COLLECTIONS 



NEAV-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 



FOR THE YEAR 1826. 



VOLUME IV. 






^y^^i^M^ 




'' r^vvlsm'i^'* 


NEW-YORK: 





PRINTED FOE THE SOCIETY, BY J. SEYMOUR. 

1826. 



f 



,rORCE COLLECTION 



?ORCE ceLLECTlON 






THE RIGHT HONORABLE 

THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE, G. C. B. 

GOrERNOR-GENERAL OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 



MY LORD, 



Though the Colony of which this is the His- 
tory, is no longer a part of the British Empire, yet. 
as that was once a British Province, and your Lord- 
ship has signified your approbation of the present 
work, I have resolved to publish it. I have been 
the more readily induced so to do, as it aflfbrds me 
an opportunity of expressing the high veneration 
and esteem I entertain for your Lordship's exalted 
character, and the grateful sense I shall ever feel 
for your Lordship's kind friendship and regard. 

wm. smith. 

Quebec, August 10th, 1824. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



In the preface to the first Volume of my Father's History 
of New-York, he has stated the reasons which induced him 
not to publish it, beyond a certain period ; however forcible 
they might have been at that day, they no longer exist, and 
I therefore have taken the resolution to offer to the public 
the continuation of this history, written with his own hand. I 
read it with the utmost attention before I resolved upon the 
publication. I put the work into the hands of some of my 
friends, (conceiving that it would have been presumption in 
me to have trusted to my own partial decision,) and they 
encouraged me to offer it to the public, as a curious and 
interesting book. When I resolved to follow this advice, it 
was a circumstance of great weight with me, that as it would 
probably be published at some future day, and might fall into 
the hands of an editor, who, not being actuated by the same 
sacred regard for the reputation of the author which I feel, 
might make alterations and additions, and obtrude the whole 
on the public as a genuine and authentic book. The continu- 
ation of the history is therefore published as it was left by the 
author, with only a few verbal alterations and corrections. 

WILLIAM SMITH, 

Member of his Majesty'^s Council, 
Quebec, August 4th, 1824. 



NOTICE 



The New-York Historical Society have the plea- 
sure, in their present volume, to offer a Continuation 
of the late Chief Justice Smith's History of New- 
York, by the distinguished author himself. For 
the means of so doing, they are indebted to the po- 
liteness of liis son, William Smith, Esq. of Canada, 
a gentleman of talents and respectability. 

To tliose who are acquainted with the merits of 
the first part of the work, so long before the public, 
it is unnecessary to say, that in putting to press this 
Continuation, they think they perform a most valua- 
ble service as well to the cause of letters as to their 
country. In the part now first published, the reader 
will observe, that the author was a prominent actor 
in the scenes he describes. A more valuable histori- 
cal document, touching the affairs of this State, has 
perhaps never yet appeared ; and the Society feli- 
citate themselves that it is in their power to enrich 
their collections with so precious a legacy to the 
future historian. 

New-York, July 4, l'J2ti. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

From Colonel Cosby's appointment to his death ; and to the appointment 
of Mr. Clarke as President of the Province, in 1736, - - 1 to 68 

CHAPTER H. 

From Governor Clarke's return to England, to the appointment of Go- 
vernor Clinton, 68 to 151 

CHAPTER III. 

From the resignation of Governor Clinton, to the appointment of Sir 
Dauvers Osborn as Governor, -151 to 162 

CHAPTER IV. 

From the death of Sir Danvers Osborn, to the accession of Lieutenant 
GoFernor Delancey, - - -162 to 217 

CHAPTER V. 

From the time of Lieutenant Governor Delancey's ceasing to administer 
the government, to the arrival of Sir Charles Hardy as Governor, 

21 7 to 245 

CHAPTER VI. 

From the absence of Sir Charles Hardy on an expedition against Mar- 
tinico, to the second assumption of the administration by Lieutenant 
Governor Delancey, -------- 245 to 284 

CHAPTER VII. 

From Lieutenant Governor Delancey's death, to the appointment of 
Lieutenant Governor Colden, during the absence of Sir Charles 
Hardy, 284 to 308 



CONTINUATION 



HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 



CHAPTER I. 



From Colonel Coshy^s appointment to his death; and to the 
appointment of Mt'. Clarke as President of the Province, in 
1736. 

Upon the death of Mr. Montgomorie, the province 
was committed to the care of Colonel William Cosby : 
he had formerly governed Minorca, and exposed him- 
self to reproaches in that island, which followed him 
across the Atlantic. It was by his order that the 
effects of one Coppodoville, a Catalan merchant, then 
residing at Lisbon, were seized at Port Mahon, in 
1718, several months before the war of that year was 
declared against Spain; and he was charged with 
scandalous practices to secure the booty, by denying 
the right of appeal, and secreting the papers tending 
to detect the iniquity of the sentence, and enabling 
the proprietor to procure its reversal. He arrived 
here the 1st of August, 1732, and on the 1 0th spoke 
to the Assembly, who had met several days before, 
agreeably to an adjournment. After informing the 
House, that the delay of his voyage was owing to his 
desire of assisting the agents for defeating a bill 
brought into Parliament, partial to the sugar islands, 
he declared his confidence in their willingness to 
provide for the support of government, by settling a 
revenue as ample and permanent as in any former 
instance; urged their attention to the Indian com- 
merce, and promised his power and interest to ren- 
der them a happy and flourishing people. 

1 



2 [Chap. I. 

Tlie Assembly were more liberal in the address 
with their lluiuks lliaii their promises ; for they merely 
en^.iiied in general to contribute to the ease of his 
administration, and therefore he repeats his request 
when they come before him to present it. 

From their dread of the success of the sugar act, 
they did not hesitate about a revenue to support the 
governmeat for six years ; nor to secure out of it, the 
payment of a salary of fifteen hundred and sixty 
pounds to tlie Governor, with the emoluments of four 
hundred pounds per annum in fuel and candles for 
the fort, and one hundred and fif\y pounds for his 
voyage to Albany, besides a sum for presents to the 
Indians. But it was late in the session before they 
voted any compensation for his assistance to the 
agents, and not till after the support bill had been 
passed. They then agreed only to present him with 
the sum of seven hundred and fifty pounds. The Go- 
vernor, who had intelligence of it, intimated his dis- 
gust, but in terms which, though it procured him an 
augmentation of two hundred and fifty pounds more, 
lost him their esteem. He accosted Mr. Morris, one 
of the members, on this occasion, in terms expressing 
a contempt of the vote. "■ Damn them," said he, 
*■' why did they not add, shillings and pence ? Do they 
think I came from England for money ? Til make 
them know better." 

This year m as the iirst of our public attention to 
the education of youth : provision was then made for 
the first time to support a Free Sc1k)o1, for teaching 
the Latin and Greek tongues, and the practical 
branches of the mathematics, under the care of Mr. 
Alexander Malcolm of Aberdeen, the author of a 
Treatise upon Book-keeping. The measure was pa- 
tronised by the Morris family, Mr. Alexander, and 
Mr. Smith, who presented a petition to the Assembly 
for that objet^t . such was the negligence of tlie day, 
that an instructor could not find bread, from the vo- 
luntary contributions of the inhabitants, though our 
eastern neighbours had set us an example of erect- 
ing and eiidowinff colleijes earlv in the last cenfurv. 



1732.] 3 

The bill for this school, drafted by IMr. Philipse the 
speaker, and brought in by Mr. Dclancey, adminis- 
tered to some merriment. It had this singular pre- 
amble : " Whereas the youth of this colony are found, 
by manifold experience, to be not inferior in their 
natural geniuses to the youth of any other country in 
the world, therefore, be it enacted," kc. 

The opposition to the sugar act, which now en- 
grossed so much the public attention, was unsuccess- 
ful. Mr. President Van Dam, the Council, and the 
Assembly, had all concurred in a petition against it 
to the King, while Mr. Cosby was in England. They 
represented the islands as aiming at a monopoly in- 
jurious both to the colony and the mother country : 
asserted that this colony took off more British wool- 
lens than all the islands together, except what was 
imported by Jamaica for the Spaniards; that the act 
would reduce them to raise their own clothing; that 
the provisions, horses, and lumber exported from this, 
and the colonies of Nevv -Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
brought returns from the foreign as well as British 
islands, in money, rum, sugar, molasses, cocoa, indigo, 
cotton, all which, except the rum and molasses, were 
either consumed here, or furnished remittances to 
Great Britain for her balance agiinst us; and the 
specie sent from this colony alone, they conceived to 
be more than from all the British islands together, 
Jamaica only excepted : they denied that the British 
sugar islands could take off half the provisions raised 
by the three northern colonies aforementioned, or 
supply us with rum without lessening the exports of 
sugar. Nothing could be more importunate than 
their supplications tor the King's protection against 
the West India project : and now the Assembly de- 
voted one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, with 
fifty pounds more for disbursements, to any person 
whom certain merchants of London should nominate 
as their agent, to assist this colony in what they con- 
ceived to be threatening them with ruin ; for they 
apprehended that all purchasers from the foreign 



4 [Chap I. 

islands for our products, were to be totally prohibited 
— a design, however, not countenanced by the act. 

While Mr. Van Dam was in the chair, it became a 
question in Council, on drawing the warrants for the 
Governor's salary, whether the whole or only the moi- 
ety should be received by the President. The Assem- 
bly were consulted upon it. but declined an opinion. 
The Council then advised warrants to Mr. Van Dam 
for the whole salary, and he received the money. 
Mr. Cosby came out with the King's order of the 31st 
of May, 1732, for the equal partition between himself 
and the President, of the salary and all perquisites 
and emoluments of government during his own ab- 
sence. Van Dam was contented, if the Governor 
would also divide with him the sums which came to 
his hands in England, for he confessed his own re- 
ceipts to amount to no more than one thousand nine 
hundred and seventy-five pounds, seven shillings and 
ten-pence, and insisted that the Governor's were six 
thousand four hundred and seven pounds, eighteen 
shillings and ten-pence. Colonel Cosby would not 
consent to this demand, and the President, who 
thought him his debtor, refused to tender him a far- 
thing, and demanded a balance. The Governor, to 
compel the payment and prevent any discount, was 
advised to proceed against Van Dam in the Exche- 
quer, for in a suit at common law he dreaded a set- 
oflT and the verdict of a jury, the President being a 
popular and reputable merchant. In Chancery no 
measures could be taken, for there the Governor pre- 
sided, and could not be an unexceptionable judge in 
his own cause. 

The Supreme Court exercised the ample authori- 
ties both of the King's Bench and Common Pleas, 
and its sittings, or terms, had been fixed by ordinan- 
ces of the Governor with the advice of the Council. 
In certain instances, the Judges had proceeded ac- 
cording to course of the Exchequer, their commis- 
sions directing them '• to make such rules and orders 
as may be found convenient and useful, as near as 
inay be agreeable to the rules and orders of our 



1732.] 5 

Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Ex- 
chequer." 

Hence the hint for proceeding in Equity before the 
Judges of the Supreme Court, as Barons of the Ex- 
chequer, the majority o^whom, Messrs. Delancey and 
Phihpse, were the Governor's intimate friends. In 
Mr. Morris, the Chief Justice, he had not equal con- 
fidence. 

As soon as Bradley, the Attorney General, brought 
a bill in this Court against Mr. Van Dam, the latter 
resolved to file a declaration .at common law against 
Mr. Cosby, before the same Judges, for his moiety as 
money received by the Governor to his use, and re- 
quired his Excellency, by a letter of the 27th August, 
1733, to give orders for entering his appearance at 
liis suit. The Governor slighted his request, and Van 
Dam, by his counsel, moved the Judges in the subse- 
quent term of October, for their letter to his Excel- 
lency, similar to the practice of the Chancery w here 
a peer of the realm is defendant. The Judges per- 
mitted him to file his declaration, but refused the 
letter, as unprecedented at law, and left him to choose 
the ordinary process. A summons was then offered 
to the Clerk of the Court for the seal, but he would 
not affix it to the writ. The Attorney General had in 
the mean time proceeded before the same Judges in 
Equity, to a commission of rebellion, and Van Dam 
found himself compelled to a defence. 

It is natural to imagine that Van Dam's hard and 
singular situation would excite pity, and that the po- 
pulace might be induced to redeem him from oppres- 
sion. He had early engaged Messrs. Alexander and 
Smith, two lawyers in high reputation, for his coun- 
sel. They took exception to the jurisdiction of the 
Court, and boldly engaged in support of the plea. 
But when judgment was given by the puisne Judges 
for overruling it, the Chief Justice opposed his breth- 
ren, in a very long argument in writing, in support of 
his opinion ; at which the Governor was much offend- 
ed, demanded a copy, and then the Judge, to prevent 
misrepresentation, committed it to the press. 



(5 [Chap. 1. 

The exceptions were three : — That the Supreme 
Court, which claimed this jurisdiction in Equity, was 
estabhshed by an ordinance of the late King George 
the First, and expired :it his demise, and had not been 
re-established in the present reign: — That his pre- 
sent Majesty, by his commission to Governor Montgo- 
morie, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, having 
commanded him to execute all things in due manner, 
according to the powers granted by that commission, 
and the instructions therewith given by the 39th ar- 
ticle, of which he was required to grant commissions, 
with the advice of the Council, to persons fit to be 
Judgos, and that he had commissioned Mr. Delancey 
and Mr. Philipse without such advice : — That they 
had no jurisdiction or authority to compel the de- 
fendant to appear upon oath, concerniiig the matters 
in the bill ; and there is no prescription, act of Parli- 
ament, nor act of Assembly, to establish any Supreme 
Court, nor to empower any Court or persons to hold 
cognizance of pleas in a Court of Equity, in or for this 
province. 

Mr. Cosby went to his government in Jersey very 
.soon after the order for overruiifig the plea, which 
was the 9th April, 1733, in the presence of a crowded 
and exasperated audience; and upon his return in Au- 
gust, presented Mr. Delancey, at the Council Board, 
with a commission to be Chief Justice, and had 
issued another advancing Mr. Philipse to the second 
seat. The members present, besides Delancey, were 
Clark, Harison, Cold en' and Kennedy, so that he 
could not form a Board for this step, there wanting 
the necessary quorum of five competent members. 
He did not ask their opinion or advice on this un- 
guarded measure, which added fresh oil to the flame, 
already spread through the colony, and excited the 
tears of the multitude. 

The Assembly meeting soon after in autumn, Mr. 
Morris was chosen to represent the county of West- 
chester, in the place of a deceased member; but he 
did not present the indenture of his return till the 



1733.] « 7 

last day of a short session, in which nothing of much 
moment was transacted. 

The Court (for all the province was already di- 
vided into two parties) made an ineflfectual opposi- 
tion to Mr. Morris's introducing his son Lewis into 
the Assembly, as the Burgess of -the town of West- 
chester. One Forster, a schoolmaster, and appointed 
Clerk of the Court by Mr. Cosby, was set up agamst 
Mr. Morris, and supported by Mr. Delancey and Mr. 
Philipse, who canvassed against the old Judge, who 
offered himself to the county. The Quakers were all 
set aside by the Sheriff* Cowper, who insisted upon 
an oath instead of the affirmation, to prove their 
freeholds ; a violence, however, which laid the foun- 
dation for a law in their favour, while it added, for 
the present, to the general discontent, already risen 
so high in the capitol, that their joy on Mr. Morris's 
next arrival there, was announced by the explosion 
of the cannon of the merchants' ships in the harbour, 
and by the citizens meeting and conducting him, 
with loud acclamations, to a public and splendid 
entertainment. 

The arts, common in such ferments, were played 
off*by the leaders of the opposition. Zenger's Weekly 
Journal was engaged in their service, and a great 
part filled with extracts from the spirited papers of 
Trenchard, Gordon, and other writers on the popu- 
lar side; while Bradford's Gazette was employed to 
defend the Governor and his party. 

In the course of the winter of 1734, two vessels 
arrived for provisions from Louisburgh, where such 
strong fortifications were erecting as excited the jea- 
lousy of all the northern colonies ; and the circum- 
stance of their sounding the passage up from the 
Hook being discovered, an advantage was taken of 
it, and an affidavit taken to prove it, published in the 
papers. The odium fell on the Governor, as counte- 
nancing the design of exposing the port and colony 
to the French ; and Mr. Van Dam made this one of 
the articles of the charge of '^'^^ -administration. 



8 [Chap. I. 

which he transmitted against him, though there did 
not appear the least ground for the imputation. 

At the parting of some company from Mr. Alexan- 
der's, late in the evening of the 1st February, an in- 
cendiary letter was picked up in the hall. It had 
been shoved under the outer door, and was instantly 
pronounced by Mr. Alexander to be the handwriting 
of Mr. Harison, then a member of the Council. It was 
in these words : — 

'• To Mr. Alexander : 

" I am one who formerly was accounted a gen- 
tleman, but am now reduced to poverty, and have no 
victuals to eat ; and knowing you to be of a generous 
temper, desire you would comply with my request, 
which is, to let me have ten pistoles, to supply my ne- 
cessaries and carry me to my native country. This 
is a bold request, but I desire you would comply with 
it, or you and your family shall feel the effects of my 
displeasure. Unless you let me have them, Til de- 
stroy you and your family by a stratagem which I 
have contrived. If that don't take the desired effect, 
I swear by God to poison all your tribe so surely, 
that you shan't know the perpetrator of the tragedy. 
I beg, for God's sake, that you would let me have the 
money, and hinder me from committing such a black 
deed. I know you can spare it, so desire you would 
let me have it. Saturday night, about 7 o'clock, leave 
it by the cellar door, Avrapped up in a rag, and about 
an hour after, I will come and take it : put it on the 
ground just where I put the stick. If you don't leave 
it, I advise you not to drink your beer nor eat your 
bread, if you value your life and healths, for by my 
soul, I will do what I've mentioned. If I find any 
w^atch to gunrd me in taking of it, I'll desist and not 
take it, but follow my intended scheme, and hinder 
you from acting any more on the stage of life. If you 
comply, I'll never molest you more ; but if not, I'll 
hazard my life iii destroying yours, and continue what 
I am." 



1734.] 9 

From the neglect to disguise the hand, which Mr. 
Smith, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Lurting the Mayor, all pro- 
nounced to be Mr. Harison's, it was conjectured that 
his design was to provoke a criminal prosecution, 
establish the precedent of convicting on the proof of 
a similitude of hands, and then, by counterfeiting the 
writing of one of the demagogues of the day, to bring 
him to the gallows, while the Governor's friends were 
to escape by pardon. 

It was therefore with great earnestness that Mr. 
Alexander, under the influence of that suspicion, 
when called before the Grand Jury, contended against 
their finding an indictment only upon such evidence, 
and with caution and reserve that he mentioned Mr. 
Harison's name, as the Grand Jurors themselves after- 
wards certified. They contented themselves with an 
address to the Governor, acquainting him that they 
could not discover the author, being able to have the 
evidence no higher than a resemblance between the 
letter and his writing : that least a presentment or 
indictment by them upon such evidence, should prove 
a trap to ensnare some innocent person upon the oath 
they had taken, they durst not accuse any individual. 
They besought him, nevertheless, to issue a procla- 
mation, with a promise of reward, for detecting the 
author of the villany. 

This matter was laid before the Council, and re- 
ferred to Messrs. Harison, Van Horn, Kennedy, De- 
lancey, Courtlandt, Lane, and Horsmanden, who, as 
a committee, proceeded to make the necessary enqui- 
ries preparatory to a report. As Mr. Alexander and 
Mr. Smith, who were summoned to attend there, re- 
fused to appear, while Harison, the suspected author, 
Avas of the committee, and Mr. Alexander, a member 
of the Board, left out, they proceeded only upon the 
testimony of Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Lurting; and 
though they advised a proclamation, offering fifty 
pounds for a discovery, yet they reported it as their 
t)pinion, that Mr. Harison was entirely innocent of the 
infamous piece of villany laid to his charge ; that he 
was incapable of being guilty of so foul a deed ; and 



10 [Chap. I. 

that the letter was a most wicked, scandalous, and 
infamous counloifeit and forsjcry, calculated, by some 
artlbl, malicious, and ctil-mindcd persons, to traduce 
and vilify the character of an honourable member of 
his Majesty's Council of this province, and thereby 
render liim odious and infamous to mankind. 

VV hether the Governor was let into the design of 
the author of the letter, was never discovered; though 
some stress was laid upon words dropped by a man 
intimate in the family, who, coming home in his cups 
late in the evening shortly before the letter was found, 
said a scheme was executed to hang Alexander and 
Smith ; and Mrs. Cosby frequently, and without re- 
serve, had declared that " it was her highest wish to 
see them on a gallows at the fort gate." 

Harison was generally suspected, in spite of the 
testimonial of the Council, of which he made all the 
use in his power in an exculpatory address to the City 
Corporation, whose Recorder he then was, suggest- 
ing that Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith had forged the 
letter to ruin him. They published a refutation of 
the scandal, which, by assigning proofs of his enmity, 
strengthened the general suspicions then prevalent 
against him. 

Harison had been concerned with them and others 
in the design of procuring a patent for part of the 
great Oblong, surrendered to this colony on the set- 
tlement w ith Connecticut. 

The petitioners were in this way to be recom- 
pensed lor two thousand pounds expended in effect- 
ing the establishment of the eastern line of the colony. 
While the business of the surrender was negotiating, 
Harison had perfidiously revealed the design to Sir 
Joseph Eyles, the Duke of Chandois, and others, and 
prompted them to sue out a patent in England. It 
issued there on the 1 5th May, 1731, upon erroneous 
suggestions, and with a description, which did not 
include the lands meant to be taken up, and which 
were fortunately granted by Mr. Montgomorie before 
the E iglish pate.u ir rived, or Mr. Harison had time 
to correct the information, by which they had been 



1734.] 11 

deceived, and on which account he had justly ex- 
posed himself to censure on both sides of tlie water. 

Add to this, that at the very time of tiiiding the in- 
cendiary letter, Mr. Harison was under a prosecution 
tending to overwhelm him with disgrace : he had pro- 
moted an action for two hundred pounds in the name 
of Wheldon, against one Trusdel, who had been his 
servant. The defendant was reduced to great straits 
by the action, and complained to his creditor, who 
knowing nothing of the prosecution, took Trusdel to 
be insane. When it was discovered that Mr. Harison 
had ordered the writ in October 1732, to gratify a 
pique of his own, and without any authority from 
Wheldon, he retained Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith, 
to avenge the poor man he had injured. The Grand 
Jury presented Harison, and Trusdel in a civil process 
was cast in the trial. It was afterwards published, 
and exhibited such proofs of the ingratitude, cruelty, 
dissimulation, and injustice of Mr. Harison, that he 
soon after fled to England. 

The Attorney General, in tenderness to a man who, 
besides his place in Council, was Judge of the Vice 
Admiralty, Examiner in Chancery, and Searcher of 
the Customs, neglected to put the presentment in 
form. Several subsequent Grand Juries complained 
of this delinquency unnoticed, and the criminal kept 
his ground till 1735, when the fourth Grand Jury re- 
solved he should be screened no longer, and pre- 
sented an indictment in form. 

The political writers, by their industry and ad- 
dress, captivated the minds of the populace, who now 
ascribed every thing they felt or feared, to the mal- 
administration of their rulers. To undeceive and 
assuage them, Mr. Cosby convened the Assembly in 
April, 1734. His salary being secured for several 
years to come, he had no formidable apprehensions 
from Mr. Morris's intrigues in the House; and by his 
friends, Mr. Delancey the new Chief Justice's father, 
Mr. Philipse the speaker, and his nephew, the second 
Judge, and their influence upon others, he hoped to 
bear down the opposition. His speech was a confes- 



12 [Chap. I. 

sion of the reality what the public invectives had as- 
serted. He admitted the decay of trade, which his 
adversaries had imputed to his misrule and the flight 
of the inhabitants, though he ascribed it to their ne- 
glect of ship-building, and the employment of Ber- 
mudians as their carriers, and the want of inspectors 
to support the credit of flour, the main staple of the 
colony. He urged them to fortify the two cities of 
New-York and Albany, according to plans he had 
proposed. He recommended a duty of tonnage on 
foreign vessels, and a stamp duty upon law proceed- 
ings and conveyances; and computed that the un- 
certain produce of the latter should remain in their 
own Treasury, for future application. He exclaimed 
against the importation of negroes* and convicts; 
urged a provision for maintaining smiths and artifi- 
cers among the Indians, to counteract the artifices of 
the French ; and promised his concurrence in any 
law for the defence of the province, the encourage- 
ment of commerce, agriculture, and manufactures, 
the arts and the sciences. 

The Assembly expressed their gratitude in very 
aflbctionate terms, and promised their attention to 
these objects. The Council, in concert with the Go- 
vernor's conciliatory schemes, sent down to the 
Lower House, a bill in favour of the Quakers, within 
two days after a petition had been presented to the 
Assembly in their behalf. The plans and estimates 
for a horse-shoe battery in New-York, a fort at Al- 
bany, and another at Schenectady, at the expense of 
near eighteen thousand pounds, were communicated, 
and an act passed to raise money, and promote our 
own navigation by a duty of tonnage. Popular mo- 
tions were also made by the court party: a bill was 
brought in to introduce the balloting of jurors. Judge 
Philipse complained of the exorbitancy of the fees of 



* A poll-tax upon negroes, and a stamp duty, beinj frequently urged 
upon the Assembly by Mr. Delancey, when he came to the chair, renders 
it probable that this speech of Mr. Cosby's was of his prompting : he was 
a I wavs fond of those funds. 



1734.] ' 13 

officers and lawyers, and a bill was ordered for regu- 
lating them : Mr. Delancey moved another, for limit- 
ing the continuance of Assemblies, to which the 
House would consent, if the elections were triennial. 

The multitude, however, put no confidence in their 
appearances, and petitions were circulated to stimu- 
late their representatives to real services : two were 
preferred on the 28th May, one from the citizens of 
New-York, and another from the inhabitants in West- 
chester. A third soon after came up from Queens 
county; all urging a law to settle fees and courts, for 
preserving the liberties and properties of the people 
from arbitrary encroachments. 

The aim of the opposition was to overturn the 
Court of Exchequer ; and on the 3 1 st May, they car- 
ried a resolve for hearing Messrs. Murray and Smith, 
two principal lawyers of different parties, upon that 
part of the petitions respecting Courts of Justice, for 
all were agreed upon the fee bill, already before the 
House. 

The 7th of June was appointed for this unparlia- 
mentary condescension of the Assembly. The law- 
yers appeared there, not as counsel for the petition- 
ers, but assistants of the Legislature. The doors were 
thrown open to satisfy the general curiosity, and the 
orators admonished that the House expected their 
opinions candidly, sincerely, and upon honour. 

Mr. Murray, the senior counsel at the bar, being 
not prepared, Mr. Smith began, and spent three hours 
in that memorable speech which I have already ta- 
ken notice of Mr. Murray was heard five days after- 
wards, and then both were dismissed, with the thanks 
of the House. The doctrine of the former was, that 
no Court of Equity could be erected in the colony by 
any act of the crown. The latter argued, that the 
four great Courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Com- 
mon Pleas, and Exchequer, were of original jurisdic- 
tion, and founded on immemorial usage, but conceiv- 
ing the colony entitled to like courts, as essential 
branches of English liberty : he expressed his fears 
that the establishment of them by a new law, would 



14 [Chap. I 

raise doubts of our title to the rights and privileges 
of Enghshmen ; and therefore he thought it expedi- 
ent to go further than merely to regulate them, as had 
been done in Kiiglaiul, by a law to establish the 
tenure of the Judges' commission during their good 
behaviour. 

The Senators were confounded by the long argu- 
guments tht^y had heard, and requested copies for 
the press, postponing any further measures until they 
had taken the sentiments of their constituents. 

The advocates for Mr. Smith's opinion had no pros- 
pect of establishing the courts by a law of the colony, 
but only of drawing the House into the quarrel be- 
tween the Governor and Mr. Van Dam ; for they fore- 
saw that he would put a negative upon any bill sent 
up for that purpose. It did not follow from his autho- 
rities, as some imagine, that no court could be open- 
ed and organised in the colony without the aid of the 
Legislature ; nor would the passing of an act for that 
purpose, in the least degree shake our titles, as Mr. 
Murray asserted, to any other rights and privileges 
to which we are entitled by the common laws of 
England. 

Neither of these gentlemen, had the question been 
proposed by the House, would have denied that the 
colony was entitled, for instance, to a Court of King's 
Bench, nor that the law constituting the Judges of it, 
sufficient for their exercise of all the powers of the 
Court of King's Bench at Westminster, and so re- 
specting either of the other courts. 

Mr. Smith's law authority did not militate against 
such a court, because it would not be creating a new 
court; and if the crown had exceeded its authority 
in modelling it, by an ordinance or commission, 
though that act might be void, (he right to such court 
would still exist, because it is not in the power of the 
crown to repeal an old law, and extinguish the rights 
and privileges of the subjects. Had the Governor 
appointed other Barons, all clamor against the le- 
gality of the Court of Exchequer must have ceased, 
and Mr. Van Dam's only advantage a change of his 



1734.] 15 

Judges, unless Mr. Delancey and Mr. Philipse pre- 
ferred seats in the Exchequer Bench to the Bench of 
the Supreme Court. 

But nothing was less the intention of the contend- 
ing parties than a just and friendly pacification ; for, 
if the Governor wished the decision of the contro- 
versy upon fair terms, what was more natural than to 
have proposed at his first coming, either an amiable 
suit at law. or the submission of it to independent and 
unbiassed referees, either here or in England. And 
the injurious project of seeking a mean advantage 
against his antagonist, can only be atoned for by the 
virtuous jealousy it excited, in a Colony which de- 
rived many benefits from the troubles of the day. 

As Mr. Smith's speech added many new proselytes 
to the opposition, the Governor grew alarmed, and, 
to counteract it, changed his distance and reproof 
into mean condescension to the people, the better to 
effect the new project of revenging himself upon the 
chief leaders by prosecutions at law. Persons of 
inferior stations were invited to the Fort and dined 
at his table, some of whom signed an address ap- 
plauding the mildness of his administration. 

The new Chief Justice, who had before laboured 
to indict Zenger, whose paper was the vehicle of in- 
vective and satire against the Governor, and his ad- 
herents, renewed his efforts in the term of October, 
calling their attention to certain low ballads, which 
he charged to be libels : "Sometimes (says the Judge) 
heavy, half-witted men get a knack of rhyming, but 
it is time to break them of it, when they grow abu- 
sive, insolent, and mischievous with it." The bal- 
lads being presented, were ordered to be burnt by 
the common whipper ; and the inquest on their ad- 
dressing the Governor for a proclamation, offering a 
reward for a discovery of the author, received a gra- 
cious answer. 

The Council, about the same time, urged the As- 
sembly to a conference, for detecting the writer of 
certain other libels in Zenger's journal. Several 
met accordingly with the Council Committee, who 



16 [1734. 

were, Messrs. Clark, Harison, Colden, Livingston, 
Kennedy, Chief Justice Delancey, Courtlandt, Lane, 
and Horsmandcn. The latter desired the concur- 
rence of the House in an address to the Governor, 
for the prosecution of the printer, the detection of 
the author, and a proclamation stimulating the Ma- 
gistrates to greater exertions for the preservation of 
peace. The Assembly met, and ordered the papers 
to be kept by their Clerk, postponing the considera- 
tion of the matter to a further day ; and when that 
arrived, ordered the libels and proposal of the Coun- 
cil to lie on the table. 

Despairing of any aid from the Assembly, they re- 
demanded their papers, and converting themselves 
instantly into a Privy Council, made an order for 
burning the libels, and then directed the following 
entry in their minutes : 

" At a Council held at Fort George, in New-York, 
the 2d of November, 1734 : 

PRESENT, 

His Excellency William Cosby, Esq. Captain Gene- 
ral and Governor in Chief, &c. 
Mr. Clarke, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Courtlandt, 
Mr. Harison, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Lane, 

Dr. Colden, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Horsmandcn. 

" Whereas, by an order of this Board of this day, 
some of John Peter Zenger's journals, entitled ' The 
New-York Weekly Journal, containing the freshest 
advices foreign and domestic,' Nos. 7, 47, IJJ, 49, 
were ordered to be burnt by the hands of the com- 
mon hangman or whipper, near the pillory in this 
city, on Wednesday the 6th inst. between the hours 
of eleven and twelve in the forenoon, as containing 
in them many things tending to sedition and faction, 
to bring his Majesty's government into contempt, 
and to disturb the peace thereof; and containing in 
them likewise not only reflections upon his Excel- 
lency the Governor in particular and the Legislature 
in general, but also upon the most considerable per- 



1734.] 17 

sons in the most distinguished stations in this Pro- 
vince. It is therefore ordered, that the Mayor and 
Magistrates of this city do attend at the hurning of 
the several papers or journals aforesaid, numbered 
as above mentioned." 

When the Sheriff moved for the compliance of the 
Magistrates at the Quarter Sessions, the Court would 
not suffer the order to be entered, and the Aldermen 
offered a protest against it, as an arbitrary and ille- 
gal injunction. Harison, the Recorder, was present, 
and put to a defiance for its justification. He men- 
tioned the example of the Lords in Sacheveral's case, 
and their proceedings against Bishop Burnet's pas- 
toral letter, and withdrew. They forbid even their 
whipper to obey it, and his place was supplied by a 
negro slave of the Sheriff's ; the Recorder, and a few 
dependants upon the Governor, honoring the solem- 
nity of executing this edict with their presence. Not 
many days after Zenger, in pursuance of a procla- 
mation, was seized, thrown into jail, and denied pen, 
ink and paper. His friends procured a habeas cor- 
pus for his enlargement. The exceptions to his re- 
turn was argued by his counsel, Messrs. Alexander 
and Smith. 

The prisoner swore, that, except the tools of his 
trade, he was not worth forty pounds in the world, 
and yet bail was exacted in the penalty of eight hun- 
dred pounds ; upon this he was enlarged, and being- 
well supported, prosecuted his paper. 

Of the several bills before the House, which con- 
tinued sitting to the 28th November, the Governor 
was most solicitous for that regulatiiig the militia, and 
another to emit bills of credit to the value of twelve 
thousand pounds. Both were carried, to the great 
joy of the court party. By the offices and distinc- 
tions which the former enabled the Governor to con- 
fer, and the influence to be gained by the latter, he 
was enabled to employ the lower classes in construct- 
ing the intended fortifications, and, of course, had 

3 



18 [Chap. 1. 

a prospect of dividing and weakening the torrent of 
opposition. 

Against the bill for emitting money, there was an 
instruction, requiring a clause to suspend its opera- 
tion till the royal pleasure could be known. It was 
expedient to the Governor's aims, that the King's com- 
mand should, nevertheless, be disobeyed, it being 
very naturally conjectured that, in a time of profound 
peace, a probationary law could not be very speedi- 
ly confirmed. To exculpate the Governor, Mr. Chief 
Justice Delancey, after the bill was gone up to his 
Excellency, brought a copy of the royal prohibition 
to the Assembly, and requested a committee of their 
House to meet certain members of the Council, to 
form a joint address of both Houses importuning him 
to pass it. 

Mr. Delancey the elder, Mr. Justice Philipse, and 
several others, met to execute the scheme that very 
evening, and the next day the address was reported, 
approved, and presented, but not without some op- 
position ; for the country party carried, at the same 
time, a motion requesting the Governor to dissolve 
tliat Assembly, to which his friends the more readily 
yielded, as his Excellency agreed to take the odium 
to himself of refusing their request, in return for their 
intercession to save him from the indignation of the 
crown.* 

Exasperated at the menaces of the Governor, and 
their despair of prevailing upon the Assembly to 
check his designs, the demagogues formed the pro- 
ject of presenting an accusation against him to the 
King. The complaint was to be trusted to the su- 
perseded Chief Justice, but it was thought necessary 
that the design should be a secret till he was actually 
embarked ; for, without leave of absence, he would 
endanger his seat in the House. 



* The reader will find further instances of such artifices, naturally to 
be expected when the Colony Legislatures are in league to promote the in- 
terest of each other. 



1735.] 19 

Mr. Morris had a farm on the sea-coast of New- 
Jersey, for which Province he was of the Council, and 
where he sometimes resided, as well for the dis- 
charge of his office, as the care of a very opulent 
fortune in that Colony. Before the ship was ready 
for the voyage, he asked leave to go home, and it was 
granted without further explanation. He repaired to 
Shrewsbury house, and made his dispositions without 
observation. From thence he took ship, nor, till his 
actual departure, was there any inquiry concerning 
the double construction of the permission he had 
obtained to authorize his absence from the House. 

The Grand Jury of the term to which Zenger was 
bound over, refusing to indict him, Mr. Bradley the 
Attorney General, proceeded against him by infor- 
mation, and his patrons, to puzzle the prosecutor, 
ventured to impeach the authority of his Judges. 

His counsel, in April term 1735, took oyer of their 
commissions, and signed and filed exceptions to them: 
1st. To the tenure, which was will and pleasure, as 
contrary to the statute of William the third. 2dly. 
To the investiture of the same persons with the au- 
thority of the Common Pleas. 3dly. To the form, as 
not warranted by the common or statute law, or any 
act of the Colony. 4thly. To the want of evidence 
that the Council concurred in the appointments. 

The Judges lost all temper at the tender of the 
exceptions, and desired the defendant's counsel to 
consider the consequences of their offer. They re- 
plied boldly, that they had : Mr. Smith added, that 
he was so well satisfied of the rights of the subject 
to except to the commission of his Judges, if he 
thought it illegal, that he would stake his life upon 
the question, and desired to be heard upon that 
point, as well as in support of the exceptions them- 
selves. 

The matter was adjourned, and upon Mr. J;uith's 
renewing the motion, the next day (16th April), the 
Chief Justice, in great heat, said, " He would neither 
allow nor hear the exceptions. You thought to have 
gained a great deal of popularity and applause by 



20 [Chap. 1 

opposing this Court as you did the Court of the Ex- 
chequer, but you have l)rought it to that point, that 
eitlier we must go from the bench, or you from the 
bar'' — handing, at the same time, tlie minute to the 
Clerk to be entered : — " James Alexander, Esq. and 
Wilham Smith, attorneys of this Court, having pre- 
sumed (notwithstanding tliey were forewarned by the 
Court of iheir displeasure if tliey should do it) to sign, 
and having actually signed and put into Court, ex- 
ceptions in the name of John Peter Zenger, thereby 
denying the legality of the Judges, their commissions, 
though in the usual form, and the being of this Su- 
preme Court : 

'' It is therefore ordered, that, for the said con- 
tempt, the said James Alexander and William 
Smith be excluded from further practice in this Court, 
and that their names be struck out of the roll of the 
attorneys of this Court." 

Mr. Alexander observed, that the exceptions went 
to the commissions and not to the hcing oi" the Court. 
" I think (replied the Chief Justice) that they are 
against the being of the Court.'''' The counsel both de- 
nied it, insisting that the Court could exist, though all 
the commissions were void. The Judge then per- 
ceived his error, and confessed the distinction well 
taken. They urged, but in vain, that the entry might 
be altered. Mr. Alexander desired to be informed, 
whether they rejected or overruled the exceptions. Mr. 
Delancey owned that he knew not the difference. If 
you reject them, said the counsel, the defendant will 
make them a part of the proceedings by bill of ex- 
ception; but if you overrule them, they will be so 
•without a bill. Diffident and not discerning their 
aim, the Judges, for a present escape, said, they 
would hear them the next day ; but, to avoid that, 
insisted that in conformity to the rule of the preced- 
ing day, their client should speak by other counsel. 
It was then remarked, that the order only inhibited 
their practising as attorneys, and no other answer was 
given, than that they meant to exclude them from act- 
ing in both capacities. 



1735.] 2i 

The defendant's case now wore a very gloomy 
complexion, for there were, at that day, but two other 
gentlemen of any reputation at the bar ; Mr. Murray, 
as already has been shown, was a partisan of the 
Governor's ; and Mr. Chambers, the other, more dis- 
tinguished for a knack at haranguing a jury than his 
erudition in the law. Him the Court assigned as 
counsel to Zenger, though he had no inclination to 
serve him. He, therefore, abandoned the mode of 
defence chalked out by his first advocates, and tak- 
ing ground safer to himself, pleaded the general 
issue ibr his client, and obtained a rule for a struck 
jury. 

The trial was brought on at the Court in July, and 
nothing omitted by the silenced lawyers to give it a 
favourable issue. The press had groaned all the 
preceding vacation, with every species of composi- 
tion, tending to animate, alarm, inform, or captivate 
the minds of the multitude ; and the stratagem to de- 
prive the defendant of help, disserved the end for 
which it was intended. Aware of the inadmissibility 
of all proof to justify the libels, they had the art to 
exhibit them to the public by the press, and at clubs, 
and other meetings for private conversation ; and, 
considering the inflamed state of a small county, con- 
sisting at that time of less than a thousand freeholders 
qualified for jurors, it was easy to let every man per- 
fectly into the full merits of the defence. Besides, 
he drew some advantages from a struck jury, since 
he could nearly conjecture, out of a pannel of twen- 
ty-four men, which of the twelve would be charged 
with his cause. 

These preparations being made, Mr. Hamilton, 
who had been secretly engaged, presented himself 
on the day of trial as the champion of liberty. He 
was of one of the Inns of Court, an opulent citizen 
of Philadelphia, in high reputation at the bar. He 
had art, eloquence, vivacity, and humour, was ambi- 
tious of fame, negligent of nothing to enlare success, 
and possessed a confidence which no terrors could 
awe. He set out by asserting with a firmness una- 



22 [Chap. I. 

bashed, and which often goes far to persuade, that 
the matters charged as scandal were true; and there- 
fore no libels ; and indulged such a vein of ridicule 
against the law advanced bj the Judges, that a libel 
was the more dangerous for its truth, that the igno- 
rant audience, judging from the superiority of the 
bar to the bench, in talents and assurance, held the 
Court in contempt, and thought the refusal of the 
Judges to permit evidence of the truth of the pub- 
lications, added to the tyranny and oppression of the 
times. 

His debates with the Court were protracted, till 
he could turn with the greater address to the jury in 
the tone of complaint, and artfully convert the guilty 
nakedness of the cause of his client into a defence. 
Having captivated their minds into a belief that, if 
the scandals were true, Zenger was not criminal, he 
recapitulated the passages in the journals supposed 
to have given umbrage to the Government, and for 
ridiculing the uncertainty of Mr. Attorney's inuen- 
does. He made others with artful allusions to past 
events, which the auditors had read or heard and 
believed to be true ; and when he left his client in 
those hands, such was the fraudful dexterity of the 
orator, and the severity of his invectives upon the 
Governor and his adherents, that the jury missing the 
true issue before them, they, as if triers of their 
rulers rather than Zenger, pronounced the criminal 
innocent because they believed them to be guilty. 

The instant the verdict was known, the impetuous 
acclamation shouted by the audience shook the Hall, 
and a mixture of amazement, terror, and wrath ap- 
peared in the bench. One of the Judges threatened 
an imprisonment of the leader in this tumult if he 
could be discovered. A threat unseasonably utter- 
ed, unless they had courage and ability to put it in 
execution; for it provoked a justification from Capt. 
Norris, a son of the knighted Admiral of that name, 
and connected with Chief Justice Morris by the mar- 
riage of his daughter, who pertly declared, that huz- 
zas were common in Westminster Hall, and were 



very loud in the acquittal of the seven Bishops. The 
Judges had no time for a reply, for the shouts were in- 
stantly repeated, and Mr. Hamilton was conducted from 
the Hall by the crowd to a splendid entertainment. 
The whole city renewed the compliment at his de- 
parture the next day ; he entered the barge under a 
salute of cannon, and the Corporation presented him 
with the freedom of the city in a gold box, on which 
its arms were engraved, encircled with the words, 
*' Demersae leges — time facta libertas — tiaec tandem 
emergunt;" in a flying garter within, " Non nummis, 
virtute paratur," and on the other front, " Ita cuique 
eveniat ut de respublica meruit." 

,As it happens on such occasions as these, the scrib- 
blers of the day grew more wanton than ever, and a 
low printer, dandled upon the knee of popular ap- 
pl.ause, gave into prodigalities, which contributed to 
his indolence, and ended, as the ferment subsided, in 
the ruin of his family. 

The contending parties now left no stone unturn- 
ed to gratify their revenge. The English patentees 
of the " Oblong," by Mr. Dunbar their agent, who con- 
nected himself with Mr. Cosby, and was stimulated 
by Harison, urged measures in the Court of Chance- 
ry against the New-York patentees. Alexander and 
Smith were interested under the last grant, and ex- 
cepted to Cosby's exercise of the Chancellor's au- 
thority, which the Governor overruled. I have else- 
where observed, that the Assemblies were jealous of 
this Court in the hands of a Governor. The Colony 
Grantees, therefore, hoped to excite the present mem- 
bers to renew the attack, and with that view, remon- 
strated against the proceedings as soon as the House 
met in autumn ; nor did Zenger's counsel omit to lay 
before them a complaint against the Judges, for de- 
priving them of their practice. They were heard 
by the committee of grievances on the 23d October, 
a copy of the complaint ordered to be served on the 
Judges, and an answer required in forty days. The 
citizens, also, by a petition, suggesting that the long 
session of the Assembly was a grievance, urged a 



l!l [Cliap. f. 

new attempt for a dissolution, which the Governor 
again refused, though the memhers unanimously ask- 
ed his consent. They then resolved, that the Court 
of Chancery under the exercise of a Governor, with- 
out consent of the General Assembly, is contrary to 
law, unwarrantable, and of dangerous consequence 
to the liberties and properties of the people. 

The opposition now taking courage, informed the 
House, by a petition from Queen's County, that the 
long coiitinuance of the Assembly occasioned a de- 
cay of trade and a depreciation of lands, which so 
highly incensed the majority as to occasion a vote, 
that the charge was an unjust and audacious misre- 
presentation. Zenger's counsel, about the same 
time, insinuated that the distant day assigned for the 
answer of the Judges with their complaints was an 
illusion of that justice they had a right to expect. 
Disgusted by this freedom, the members resolved 
that it should not ever be read, and the very next 
day adjourned, with the Governor's consent, to the 
latter end of March. 

It was a parting for ever, for Mr. Cosby died on 
the 10th of that month,* and as the reader may sup- 
pose, almost universally detested ; for, besides the 
aforementioned instances of imprudence into which 
he was willingly led by the men of his confidence, he 
increased the number of his enemies by destroying 
certain deeds to the City of Albany, and a project he 
had formed for a re-survey of the old patents on 
Long Island. The Mohawks sagaciously dreading 
the rapid progress of population, had conveyed a 
very valuable part of their territory to the Corpora- 
tion, to take effect upon the total dissolution of their 
tribe. It was produced to convince the Governor of 
the injustice of granting it to private patentees ; but 
after the perusal of it, which he perfidiously request- 
ed for his satisfaction, he threw it into the fire, and it 
was instantly consumed. 



lOlh March, 175G. 



1736.] 25 

His design against the people of Long Island origi- 
nated from the same motive : he hoped to enrich him- 
self by the acquisition of lands already improved, as 
well as by fees for the new grants. 

It cannot be denied, that our old grants and patents 
are very inaccurately penned, nor that, in some in- 
stances, the proprietors have taken advantages of 
the description of their limits by marked trees, Indian 
names of places, and other uncertain boundaries, 
to extend their possessions too far ; and certainly, if 
they were confined to the true object of their grants, 
they would have no just cause of complaint : but a re- 
survey for this purpose cannot be executed without 
difficulty and danger, nor attempted without spread- 
ing universal discontent. Though a second patent 
will not convey what was comprehended in the first 
grant, yet a wise and generous ruler will perceive that 
the small emolument, which he may add to his quit- 
rents, is overbalanced by the innumerable mischiefs 
flowing from the increase of animosities and the mul- 
tiplication of law-suits, and find himself(if his inten- 
tions are upright) not a little embarrassed in the con- 
struction of the ancient grants of the country, most 
of which are derived from the Duke of York, when 
a subject. At that early day the great object was to 
gain a dominion over these vast deserts, by joining 
occupancy to discovery, for the effectual exclusion of 
any other European power. To accomplish that end, 
grants were penned with all the negligence of libe- 
rality, and the giver being benefited more by his seem- 
ing bounty, than the adventurous grantee, who could 
not, even after acquiring his title from the Duke and 
the Crown, cultivate the soil in safety, without buy- 
ing peace from the Savages, and that as often as they 
were pleased to renew their claims. To this the 
modern interpreter of the old grants, if he will guard 
against error or injustice, must necessarily attend. 
But w^ho could confide in a Governor, stimulated to 
the measure, not so much by a regard to the interests 
of his master, as his own avarice. Long Island, at 
that time, comprehended a third part of the improved 

4 



26 [Chap, h 

lands of the Colony, and no man knowing whether 
his best improved possessions might not fall beyond 
the lines assigned for his tract, the inhabitants were 
almost universally alarmed, and were as suspicious of 
the Governor and his re-survey, as the patricians of 
Rome were formerly of the Gracchi and their agra- 
rian laws. 

But no representation, repugnant to his avarice, 
had any influence upon Mr. Cosby. The weakness 
of his understanding rendered him reprehensible even 
to fear. In answer to the great objection, that a cer- 
tain doctrine was against law, he silhly replied, " how, 
gentlemen, do you think I mind that : alas ! I have a 
great interest in England." It is some extenuation of 
his faults, that he was the dupe of others ; and an 
apology for Mr. Delancey, his chief minister, that he 
was then a young man, ill read in a profession, which 
he took up without aid, and, by his education abroad, 
was little acquainted with the affairs of the Colony. 

Mr. Cosby's remains were buried in the Chapel 
within the walls of the Fort, in which he died. His 
widow repaired to England after one of her daugh- 
ters, advantageously connected with Lord Augustus 
Fitzroy, son to the Duke of Grafton. The match 
was clandestinely brought about by the intrigues of 
Mrs. Cosby, Lord Augustus being then on his travels 
through the provinces ; and to blind his relations and 
secure the Governor from the wrath of his father, 
then a favourite of King George the Second, a mock 
prosecution was instituted against Campbell the par- 
son, who had scaled the Fort walls and solemnized 
the nuptials, without a written license from the Go- 
vernor, or any publication of the banns, contrary to 
usage, though not against the law of the Colony. 

The exultation of the populace occasioned by Mr. 
Cosby's death, and the expectation that Mr. Van 
Dam was again to take the helm, was excessive, for 
they had despaired of any success from Mr. Morris's 
complaints ; news arriving in February, that the 
Lords of the committee, after hearing counsel against 
the Governor, had, on the 7th of November before, 



1736.] 27 

reported, that the reasons for removing him were in- 
sufficient. The celebrated Mr. Murray, afterwards 
Lord Mansfield, retained against him, exerted him- 
self on this occasion, and introduced his accusation 
with the delicate observation, that if his Majesty 
could delegate his virtues as easily as his authority, 
their Lordships would not have been called to the 
trouble of that hearing. But it was not many hours 
before the triumph of the patriots was checked by 
the report, that Van Dam had been privately sus- 
pended since the 24th of the preceding November. 

The Council — Messrs. Clarke, Alexander, Van 
Home, Kennedy, Delancey, Courtlandt, Lane, and 
Horsmanden — met, and administered the oaths to 
Mr. Clarke as the President, who issued a proclama- 
tion, announcing the succession as by the unanimous 
opinion of the Board. Mr. Alexander, who was 
struck at this meeting with the actof suspension, and 
had really given no opinion, was obliged, to save 
his popularity, to publish his non-concurrence, and 
impeach the truth of the proclamation. 

Van Dam the next day asserting his title, called 
upon Mrs. Cosby for the great seal with the commis- 
sion and instructions, and when denied access, he 
demanded them in writing of Mr. Clarke, to whom 
they had been delivered. The possessor insisted 
upon the suspension, appealing to the King. The 
other addressed the people by a protest against 
Clarke's proceedings, and the Council who qualified 
him, and all their aiders and abettors, declaring that 
Cosby was delirious and non compos at the moment of 
the suspension, and the act, therefore, invalid ; that 
if he had been sane, his power was sufficient to ex- 
clude him from acting as a counsellor, but not to in- 
terrupt his succession to the command : that it lost 
its efficacy at the death of the Governor, and that the . 
Council had no authority to qualify Mr. Clarke. 

Clarke disregarding this claim of his antagonist, 
though supported by the popular voice, adjou ned 
the Assembly, and drove Van Dam to insist, as the/ 



28 [Chap. L 

did not meet according to the prior adjournment, that 
Clarke's act was invalid, himself guilty of a very 
high crime, and the House dissolved. The mem- 
bers, however, met on the day to which Mr. Clarke 
adjourned them, and being bewildered by their repug- 
nant pretensions, and unwilling to enlist on the one 
side or the other, returned home and continued un- 
der repeated adjournments, till the Crown interfered 
for a decision of the controversy. 

This anarchy urged to no open violence till the 
14th October, when by the charter of the capital, the 
officers of the year, who w ere to be nominated or 
elected on the 29th September, were to take the 
necessary oaths, and begin the discharge of their 
trusts. 

Van Dam's party prevailed at the election for the 
Aldermen and Common Council: tlie citizens choos- 
ing such as would act with a Mayor, Recorder, She- 
riff, and Coroner, of his appointing, as President of 
the Council ; and he accordingly named — Cornelius 
Van Home, Mayor ; Mr. Smith, Recorder ; Mr. Ash- 
field, Sheriff; and Mr.Nicholls, Coroner. Mr. Clarke 
concurred in none of these but the last, and constitu- 
ted Mr. Richard to be Mayor ; Mr. Horsmanden, Re- 
corder, and Mr. Cosby to be Sheriff; and by a procla- 
mation of the 1st October, warned Van Dam's officers 
against the danger of assuming any authority under 
his appointments. 

The opposition lost all temper at this juncture, and 
to animate their followers, boldly menaced Clarke, in 
print, with a prosecution. An extract from a paper 
of that day will show the excess to which the spirit 
of party was carried. 

" Whatever desire some of the subjects of the 
.British dominioiis may have to be above the law and 
tread it under foot, yet the law ought to be and will, 
at the long run, get above them. It is too strong a 
body to contend with, and he who does it will hardly 
•scape a fall. Of this the Honourable Francis Ha- 



1736.] 29 

rison, Esq. counsellor, is a recent example.* All the 
power he had to support him could not prevent a 
fall. If Mr. Clarke be not entitled to the administra- 
tion, I believe a grand jury of New-York will think 
him guilty of high treason for usurping, and indict 
him accordingly. I do not believe that they will 
think his superiority, or their subordination, will ex- 
cuse them for not doing it. Their oath is to present 
all offenders. I hitherto have not heard of any excep- 
tion in it, either of counsellors or commanders-in- 
chief They are as subject to the law as the mean- 
est man in New-York, let their desire be ever so 
strong to be above it : and if the grand jury indicts, 
I doubt not the Court will issue the process thereof 
to apprehend him and try him by twelve lawful men 
of New-York, where the fact was committed. If he 
is taken, I doubt not but that he will have the liberty 
of pleading his superiority and the subordination of 
the Court and jury against their jurisdiction. I doubt 
not but that the plea will be fully heard as it ought to 
be, and that his lawyers may speak freely in support 
of it, notwithstanding the late precedents of con- 
demning unheard upon pleas to jurisdiction, and of 
silencing lawyers for offering them, and notwithstand- 
ing all the part he had in making of such precedents ; 
and if his lawyers can make it out, that he is above 
and out of the reach of the law, the Court ought to 
allow the plea ; but if they can't, as I believe they 
cannot, he must there hold up his hand as well as the 
meanest and most arch pickpocket that ever was in 
New-York, and either confess and be hanged, or say 
not guilty and put himself for his trial on God and his 
country : and if such be his case, I hope justice he 
may depend upon. But what charity twelve good 
men of New-York, sworn to try him, will have for 
him, he, by running over his past services to the pro- 
perties, liberties, and privileges of this country, may 

* He went off privately to England in 1735. It was imagined that Mr 
Cosby sent him to watch and oppose the attempts of Col. Morris, and that 
the Governor's death plunged him into poverty and prevented his return. 
He did not lonjc survive that event. 



30 [Chap. I 

in some measure be able to judge. But, however, as 
a Christian I shall be obliged, in that case, to join in 
the clerk's prayer, and say, God send you a good deli- 
verance.'''' 

These hints were formidable, because the rage of 
the multitude was so exasperated, and their confi- 
dence in the demagogues so absolute, that the latter 
had only to advise Van Dam to appoint Judges to ac- 
comphsh the tragedy of cutting off the Commander- 
in-chief, who actually called into the Fort all the of- 
ficers and soldiers of the independent companies, for 
his protection against the expected horrors of the ap- 
proaching day for qualifying the magistrates of the 
metropolis. During these agitations Mr. Morris, whose 
arrival at Boston was not known here till the 18th 
September, was impatiently expected, and the rather 
because he had only given his adherents liberty to 
think favourably of his restoration. He did not reach 
Morrisania till the 7th October. He was met the 
day after by a vast concourse, and conducted with 
loud acclamations to a meeting of the chiefs of the 
party. Having learnt to what extremes the contests 
were advanced, and being importuned for his advice, 
he replied with a grave tone, " li you don't hang 
them, they will hang you" — and the evening was 
spent, after dispersing money from the windows of 
the house to the rabble in the streets, with a tempes- 
tuous festivity and joy. He declared it as his own 
opinion, that Van Dam had a right to the administra- 
tion ; 'hat he was willing to execute the office of Chief 
Justice under him ; that the Assembly was dissolved, 
and that force ought to be opposed to force, if Clarke 
insisted upon his authority. 

The Assembly was convened on the 12th, and Mr. 
Morris, the next day, obtained their leave to visit 
New-Jersey, where he said the public service re- 
quired his presence. Van Dam's magistrates had re- 
solved to act the next day, and resolutions were ta- 
ken to support them by violence ; but fortunately for 
both parties, within twenty-four hours of the erup- 



1736.] 31 

tion of the meditated civil war, the brigantine En- 
deavour arrived from England, with despatches from 
the government to Mr. Clarke, as President and Com- 
mander-in-chief of the Province, enclosing an in- 
struction altering the prayers for the Royal Family, 
upon the marriage of the Prince and Princess of 
Wales. 

From that moment his opposers became mute and 
abashed, and his officers were sworn in and obeyed. 
Mr. Morris was publicly charged with the knowledge 
of this act of government. It was asserted, that his 
son, Robert, who accompanied him, had revealed it 
at Boston, declaring, that Mr. Clarke would receive 
the instruction by a vessel which had already arriv- 
ed ; and to confirm the accusation, it was observed, 
that it bore date the 1st July, several weeks before 
he embarked. But his friends treated it as a calum- 
ny, not only because so base a concealment was in- 
consistent with his character and his own positive 
denial, but with the safety of his son, Lewis, and 
Ashfield, his son-in-law, who had rendered them- 
selves very obnoxious in supporting Mr. Van Dam. 

Mr. Clarke delivered his first speech to the Assem- 
bly in the calm of the so much dreaded 14th of Oc- 
tober. He challenged their promise to his prede- 
cessor for supplying the deficiency of the revenue, 
and repeated his instances for the encouragement of 
ship building, persuaded to the cultivation of hemp, 
finishing the fortifications, erecting a new fort at the 
head of the Mohawk river, and the settlements of 
Smiths in the Seneca country ; and to humor the 
clamors within doors, he consented to introduce the 
practice, which has ever since prevailed, of absent- 
ing himself from the Council, when they sit as a 
branch of the Legislature. 

During the session, his hands were strengthened 
by his advancement to the rank of Lieutenant Go- 
vernor. The commission was dated the 3()th July, 
and published here on the 30th October; but yet 
nothing of any considerable moment was transacted, 
and after an address to cons^ratulate the Kins: on the 



;?2 [Chap. I, 

marriage of the Prince of Wales, and the passing of 
a few common bills, he put an end to a peaceful, in- 
active session, by a prorogation on the 7th of No- 
vember. 

He met them again in April, and earnestly urged 
the payment of the arrears due to the public credi- 
tors, occasioned by the defect of their funds, and a 
new act for supporting the government, the other be- 
ing nearly expired. But little could be expected 
from an Assembly fearful of their constituents, and 
consisting of a respectable minority intent upon a 
dissolution. Hence their consent to a motion of Mr. 
Morris, junior's, for leave to bring in a bill for trien- 
nial elections and the exclusion of Crown officers. 
Mr. Clarke soon discovered, that his Assembly was 
grown dastardly, that the debts of the Colony amount- 
ed to near nine thousand pounds, and that they meant 
to postpone the payment to prolong their own ex- 
istence. He artfully made his court to the collective 
body, by a speech to the House in terms of real or 
affected disgust, charging them with a neglect of the 
interests both of the Crown and Colony, and then 
dissolved an Assembly elected in 1728, of whom 
their constituents were tired, as he suggested in his 
speech. 

The Lieutenant Governor was an Englishman. His 
uncle, Mr. Blaithwait, procured the Secretary's place 
for him, and sent him out with it early in the reign 
of Queen Anne. He had genius, but no other than 
a common writing-school education ; nor did he add 
to his stock by reading, for he was more intent upon 
improving his fortune than his mind. He was sensi- 
ble, artful, active, cautious ; had a perfect command 
of his temper, and was, in his address, specious and 
civil. Nor was any man better acquainted with the 
Colony and its affiiirs. As a Crown officer, he was 
careful not to lose the favour of any Governor, and 
still more assiduous to please when he became the 
second at the Council Board. He shared a part of 
the odium which fell upon Mr. Cosby, but escaped 
much more of it by a closer attachment than before to 



1737.] ' 33 

his rural villa on the edge of Hempstead plains, and 
left it to Mr. Delancey to enjoy the praise or blame 
of being the Sejanus of that Governor. The public 
confusions contributed to the gratification of his 
wishes. Dreading Van Dam's power, his fellow- 
counsellors easily concurred in persuading Cosby to 
suspend him, and the anarchy which instantly ensued 
upon that Governors decease, and his own represen- 
tations, left the ministry no time to think of any other 
person for the place of Lieutenant Governor. No- 
thing now alarmed him but the arrival of a Governor 
in chief Lord Delaware had early engaged the pro- 
mise of the Minister ; but a peer of the realm was only 
to be induced to accept so humiliating a station by the 
prospect of a speedy repair of his finances, and Mr. 
Clarke knew how to improve a disposition so favor- 
able to his own ends. His Lordship declared, that 
Mr. Clarke's letters concerning the Colony were per- 
plexed and discouraging. Those who were ac- 
quainted with Mr. Clarke, knew that if he wrote 
obscurely upon such a subject, it must have been 
with design. 

The country party found no difficulty in securing 
a majority at the election. The citizens chose Mr. 
Alexander of the Council for one of their represen- 
tatives. The House met about midsummer 1737. 
and Mr. Morris, junior, was placed in the chair. 

Mr. Clarke had paved the way towards a reconci- 
liation by the dissolution, and, as he had shaken the 
attachment of his old friends, perceived a necessity 
for caution in the management of the heated patriots 
of the new House ; for, till they had time to offend, 
he could hope for nothing by another dissolution. — < 
His speech, according to the exigency of the day, 
was a short one, and asked nothing. 

He had dissolved the late House, as he suggested, 
in tenderness to the King's ho.ior and the true in- 
terest of the Colony, and was happy to find the peo- 
ple had answered his wishes in so proper a choice of 
new members. He intended ^to meet the Chiefs 
of the confederate Indian cantons to obstruct the 



34. [Chap. I. 

sale to the French ol" a tract in the territory of the 
Seneca tribe, called Irondequot, on the south side of 
Lake Ontario, convenient ibr erecting a commercial 
magazine, that might be injurious to ours at Oswego; 
and all he had to recommend, was their aid in per- 
fecting the harmony already begun, in which he pro- 
mised his assistance. 

They thanked him for the dissolution, and ap- 
plauded his sagacity ; wished him a good voyage to 
yVlbany, and hoped their next meetijig would have 
consequences answerable to its end. 

They sat only two days ; but entered on their jour- 
nals as resolved in future to publish the names of the 
voters for and against any question ; and gave leave 
to their speaker, which is singular, to bring in a va- 
riety of bills: one to regulate elections; another for 
frequent elections ; and others for appointing an agent 
in Great Britain, independent of the Governor; for 
lowering the interest of money, and for regulating and 
establishing fees. Mr. Alexander, immediately after, 
was permitted to oiler others, to encourage the im- ^ 
portation of whites and servants; the manufacture of 
iron and hemp; and the preventing of frauds in flour 
and other products intended for exportation. These 
acts had the designed effect upon the vulgar, and 
were applauded as indisputable testimonials of the 
patriotism of their leaders. 

Mr. Clarke went to Albany, and had a conference 
with the Indians, but was not able to accomplish his 
designs. Irondequot is a vale of an excellent soil; 
and he was desirous of purchasing it from the Indians, 
not only to defeat the intentions of the French, but 
to promote settlements there, for the easier subsist- 
ence of the garrison and traders at Oswego. But he 
established an interpreter, a gunsmith, and three 
others among the Senecas, to watch and circumvent 
the intrigues of the French, and prevailed upon the 
tribes to prohibit any buildings in their canton. 

He was well ap[)rised that the next meeting of the 
Assembly would call for the utmost exertion of his 
abilities. Cosby's arttagonists. to protect themselves, 



1737.] 35 

had taught lessons to the muUitude, now to be carried 
into practice, if^they would escape the contempt they 
had brought upon the members of the last House. 

The Council, on the other hand, headed the re- 
mains of the Coshyan party, and were not a little dis- 
gusted at the late dissolution, which had completed 
the triumph of their adversaries. Both parties were 
distrustful of the Lieutenant Governor, and upon the 
watch to engage him in their interests. 

He had to curb the intemperate zeal of the Assem- 
bly, to quiet the Council, and prevent the resentment 
of the crown. But there was danger in humoring 
the Council ; for an unmanageable Assembly prompts 
to suspicions of incapacity, and would either be fol- 
lowed with a loss of his office, or the speedy arrival 
of a Governor in Chief: add to this, that new supplies 
were necessary for the discharge of public debts, and 
the support of the government in future ; and that the 
leaders of the two contending branches of the Legis- 
lature were men animated by a spirit of revenge- — 
Mr. Chief Justice Delancey swaying the councils of 
the Upper House, while Colonel Morris his prede- 
cessor, his son Lewis, the speaker, and Mr. Alexan- 
der, undoubtedly had the confidence of the Assembly. 

The Governors interest induced him to take a 
middle path ; and by his art and prudence, a long, 
active session, from the 23d August to the 1 6th De- 
cember, terminated in peace, which the turbulency 
of the late administration rendered doubly agreeable. 

He opened the session with a conciliatory speech; 
applauded the proofs left upon their journals, in 
April, of their attention to the state of the colony; 
tenderly reminded them, that the crown's right of dis- 
allowing the colony laws, rendered it useless to press 
him to inefFectual concurrences j touched upon the 
deficiency of the funds ; commended their loyalty, 
and asked for a revenue ; intimated his anxiety for 
the support of Oswego, and the extent of the Indian 
commerce, which were great objects ; and promised 
his assent to all bills that would advance the welfare 
of the colony. 



36 [Chap. I. 

The address, unusually copious, bold, and coarse, 
seizes his compliments as promises, which they mean 
to put to the trial; stigmatizes the last Assembly as 
betrayers of the rights of the people, by detestable 
submissions to prolong their political life : after which 
they argue with some earnestness upon the propriety 
of frequent and uninfluenced elections; the utility of 
an agent in Great Britain dependent only upon the 
House ; the propriety of establishing courts, and 
especially Courts of Equity, and the fees of officers, 
by Legislative acts, instead of ordinances. They pro- 
ceeded then to obviate the ordinary objections drawn 
from the prerogative, and a due obedience to the 
royal instructions. They imputed the deficiency of 
the revenue to prodigality ; impeach their predeces- 
sors in granting permanent funds, and tax the receiv- 
ers with ingratitude; roundly assure him that they 
mean to discontinue that practice ; " for," to use their 
words, "you are not to expect that we either will 
raise sums unfit to be raised, or put what w^e shall 
raise into the power of a Governor to misapply, if we 
can prevent it ; nor shall we make up any other de- 
ficiencies than what we conceive are fit and just to 
be paid, or continue what support or revenue we 
shall raise, for any longer time than one year; nor do 
we think it convenient to do even that, until such 
laws are passed as we conceive necessary for the 
safety of the inhabitants of this colony, who have re- 
posed a trust in us, for that only purpose, and which 
we are sure you will think it reasonable we should 
act agreeably to; and, by the grace of God, we will 
endeavour not to deceive them." In honor to them- 
selves, they compliment him for his neglecting to in- 
fluence the late elections, and take it as a pledge of 
his good conduct in future. Throughout the whole, 
they are cautious to promise him nothing, but a vigi- 
lance for the public interest; and when they thank 
him for his promises, they impute them to a con- 
sciousness that they are not favors, but duties; and 
if he performs them, they will then consider him as 
fulfilling the commands and copying the example of 



1737.J 37 

the King, " who makes the good and happiness of his 
subjects his chietest care and greatest glory." 

Mr. Clarke, who knew that all this was concio ad 
popidum, far from intimating the least displeasure at 
its asperity, prudently engaged his assent to the elec- 
tion bills, or any others consistent with his duty to 
the crown; and that in every condition o{ life, the 
province should have his best services. 

The old party had made some efforts at the elec- 
tion, but with little success. Their most strenuous 
exertions were in the city, during the session to intro- 
duce Adolph Philipse, the late speaker, in the place 
of Gerrit Van Home, a deceased member, whose son 
offered himself in the place of his father. 

Before Cosby the Sheriff* had made a return of Mr. 
Philipse, petitions were preferred by the other can- 
didate and his electors, complaining of partiality ; 
upon which the House ordered, that neither of them 
should sit, till the conduct of the Sheriff* had been 
examined and considered. 

Mr. Smith appeared as counsel for Van Home, and 
insisted that Philipse should distinguish which of the 
allegations of his client he denied or confessed, that 
time might be saved in the exhibition of the proofs. 
His antagonist, more consistent with the usage of 
Parliament, moved and carried a majority for a 
scrutiny of the votes. 

This success provoked an attack upon Mr. Alex- 
ander, who was of the minority on that question. It 
was insisted that, as a member of the Council, he 
ought not to be admitted to sit in the Lower House. 
The result was, a promise on his part that, as he had 
not, since his election, so he would not act in Coun- 
cil during the continuance of that Assembly ; and a 
resolve, that while he kept it, he was duly qualified, 
but that on the breach of it, he should be expelled. 

Van Home and Philipse were directed to exchange 
lists of the exceptionable electors ; but the Sheriff* 
and Van Home were first heard, and the former ac- 
quitted of the charge of misbehaviour. In the debates 
between the candidates, Mr. Smith made a question. 



:i8 [Chap. I. 

whether the Jews were qualified for electors, some 
of them having voted for Mr. Philipse. The cavil 
was taken up liastily in one day, and referred for ar- 
gument on tlie next ; and a resolve carried against 
the Hebrews by the mere dint of eloquence. 

The auditors of this memorable debate of the 23d 
September, never mention it without the highest en- 
comiums upon the art of the orator.* 

Mr. Murray, as counsel for Mr. PhiHpse, drily urg- 
ed tlie authority of the election law, giving a vote to 
all freeholders of competent estates, without except- 
ing the descendants of Abraham, according to the 
flesh ; and with astonishment lieard a reply, which 
captivated the audience into an opinion, that the ex- 
ception must be implied for the honor of Christi- 
anity and the preservation of the constitution. The 
whole history of the conduct of England against the 
Jews, was displayed on this occasion, and arguments 
thence artfully deduced against their claims to the 
civil rights of citizenship. After expressing the emo- 
tions of pity naturally arising upon a detail of their 
sufferings under the avaricious and barbarous policy 
of ancient times, he turned the attention of his hear- 
ers to that mystery of love and terror manifested in 
the sacrifice of Christ ; and so pathetically described 
tiie bloody tragedy at Mount Calvary, that a member 
cried out with agony and in tears, beseeching him to 
desist, and declaring his conviction. Many others 
M'ept ; and the unfortunate Israelites were content to 
lose their votes, could they escape with their lives; 
lor some auditors of weak nerves and strong zeal, 
were so inflamed by this oratory, that but for the in- 
terposition of their demagogues, and the votes of the 
House in their favour, the whole tribe in this disper- 



=* Mr. Smith was born 8th October, 1697, at Newport Pag'nel, Buck- 
inghamshire, England ; was then at the age of 40: he had his first educa- 
tion from Mr. Stannard, the minister of Simpson in Bucks, and Mr. Wood- 
ward and Mr. Lettin, of Newport Pagncl in that county. He left London 
with his father's family, '24th of May, 1715, and arrived at New-York I7th 
of August in the same year. 



1737.] 39 

sion would have been massacred that very day, for 
the sin of their ancestors in crucifying Jesus of Na- 
zareth, and imprecating his innocent blood upon 
themselves and their children. 

It is at such moments that the arts of persuasion 
show their power, and few men were more eminently 
possessed of them than Van Home's counsellor. He 
had the natural advantages of figure, voice, vivacity, 
memory, imagination, promptness, strong passions, 
volubility, invention, and a taste for ornament. These 
talents were improved by the assiduous industry of 
a robust constitution, with uninterrupted health and 
temperance, in the pursuit of various branches of sci- 
ence, and particular!)' in the law and theology. His 
progress in the latter was the more extensive, from 
an early turn to a life of piety and devotion. He stu- 
died the Scriptures in their originals, when young, 
and in advanced life they were so familiar to him, 
that he often read them to his family in English from 
the Hebrew or Greek, without the least hesitation. 
He was bred a Dissenter in Buckinghamshire, and 
attached to the doctrines of Calvin : a great part of 
his time was spent in the works, French, English, and 
Latin, of the most celebrated divines of that stamp. 
He was for some time in suspense about entering into 
the service of the church. Dr. Colman of Boston, 
upon the perusal of a letter of his penning, in the 
name of the Presbyterian Church of New-York, re- 
questing a minister to take the care of it, declared that 
no man could be more fit than he who had so well 
described the character of a proper subject for that 
vacancy. These things are mentioned, to account 
for that surprise of his auditors at that copia and ora- 
tory which Mr. Smith indulged, when he laid aside 
his law books and took up the Bible in the debate I 
have mentioned. He imagined that the House would 
reject the votes of all the non-resident freeholders, 
and if the Jewish voices were struck out of the poll- 
lists, that his client would prevail. His religious and 
political creed were both inflamed by the heat of the 
times. It was natural to a mind trembling several 



40 [Chap. I. 

years past for the hberties of the colony, and himself 
then under the rod of oppression, for asserting them, 
to take fire at the prospect of the most distant inlet of 
mischief And perhaps he was not himself conscious 
at that time, of the length to which his transition, 
from the impohcy of a Jewish interposition in the le- 
gislation of a Christian community, to the severity of 
exercising it, would carry him. That severity was 
then to be justified, and to this he reconciled his 
judges by an affecting representation of the agonies 
of the Cross. He prepared no notes for this memo- 
rable speech : it was delivered within a few hours 
after the thought of an implicative exception in the 
election act was first conceived ; and the astonish- 
ment of the audience rose the higher, by the rare in- 
stance of so much pulpit eloquence from a law cha- 
racter at the bar of the House. 

But though the Israelites were rejected, the non- 
resident voices were accepted, and Mr. Philipse, with 
his nephew the second Justice, admitted to a share 
in councils which they would neither sway nor con- 
trol. And yet this act of justice to the old speaker 
gave great offence without doors; the majority adopt- 
ing Mr. Alexander's erroneous opinion, contrary to 
legal exposition and parliamentary usage, that a per- 
sonal residence was as requisite in the elector, as 
communion of interests by a competent freehold. 

The Judges too, about this time grew not only im- 
patient under the reproaches incurred by the order 
for silencing Zenger's counsel, but fearful of its con- 
sequences. The populace wishing for an opportu- 
nity, by action for damages, to repay them the losses 
they had sustained, their resentment rose the higher, 
as Mr. Smith, who had lately visited Virginia, was 
importuned to remove to that colony. To effect a 
reconciliation, the Lieutenant Governor and Mr. 
Murray were employed to feel the pulses of the two 
popular lawyers, and testify the wishes of th< Judges 
that they would return to the bar. After some punc- 
tilios, honore servando^ the Judges agreed to cancel 
Iheir injurious order, upon the promise of the latter 



1737.] n 

to release all actions and damages, under the pretext 
of gratifying the timidity of their wives, who were said 
to be in constant anxiety from the apprehension of 
prosecutions and outrages. And in the October Term 
this year, Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith appeared 
again at the bar, without any further condescensions 
on either side. 

The patriots obtained a variety of popular laws in 
the course of the session. The militia was modelled ; 
the practice of the law amended; triennial elections 
ordained ; the importation of base copper money re- 
strained ; courts for the summary decision of petty 
suits established ; a mathematical and grammar 
school encouraged ; extravagant usury prohibited by 
the reduction of interest from eight to seven per cent.; 
pedlers regulated; Oswego supported, and the In- 
dian commerce promoted; paper money emitted, 
and a Loan Office erected ; provision made for pre- 
serving the metropolis from destruction by fires ; and 
the precedent set for compelling the officers of go- 
vernment to a reliance upon the annual provision of 
the Assembly for their support. 

But these institutions were nevertheless inade- 
quate to the elevated expectations of the multitude, 
and short of the intentions of their leaders. Other 
bills were brought in, which did not at that time pass 
into laws. They meant to regulate elections, and 
totally to exclude the influence of the crown; to ap- 
point inspectors of exported flour; to restrain the 
sale of strong liquors to apprentices and servants, 
and to others, upon credit; to reduce the fees of 
officers ; to engross the appointment of an agent at 
the Court of Great Britain; to promote ship-build- 
ing; and to give the Quakers a further indulgence, 
by exempting them from the trouble of producing 
the certificates of the quarterly meetings, required 
by the late act, of their haviiig been members of that 
persuasion a year before the ofler of themselves for 
an affirmation. Some of these bills failed by the op- 
position of the Council, who, on the day of the final 
debates bf^tween Van Home and Philipse. (12th 



42 [(Jhap. 1. 

October), signilied their concurrence to two bills in 
a way not usual, by their Clerk. There had never 
been more than three instances of that kind, and 
those were messages to the late Assembly, between 
whom and the Council there was a perfect concord 
upon party principles. The ancient usage of the 
Council, was to send by one of their own members ; 
and the present Assembly resented the inno\'ation, 
and demanded satisfaction for the insult. 

The Clerk brought an answer to it a few days af- 
terwards, and was immediately ordered back with a 
peremptory declaration, that the Assembly would 
thenceforth receive no message from the Council by 
that officer. 

They then began to cavil with the most favourite 
bills of the majority, and embarrass their progress 
by proposing amendments, and sent others to the 
Lieutenant Governor with intimation to the House of 
their concurrence, and were also silent as to some 
which they either rejected or neglected to the close 
of the session, and which, for that reason, were ne- 
ver passed into laws. They, however, abandoned 
the attempt for maintaining an intercourse by their 
Clerk, a novelty weakly introduced, because in itself 
unjustifiable, which exposed them to the contempt of 
the people, and would doubtless (if by this folly a 
stagnation of the public business had ensued) have 
incurred, as every futile controversy of that House 
will with a popular Assembly, the displeasure of the 
Crown and a new set of Counsellors. 

To the triennial act, they proposed a variety of 
amendments ; some the Assembly rejected ; the 
Council adhered to all of them. The lower House 
demanded a conference. They consented, and ap- 
pointed Messrs. Livingston, Delancey, and Horsman- 
den, their managers. The Assembly nominated theirs, 
but bound them by instructions. When the joint 
committees met, the managers for the Council only 
delivered a paper with their reasons for their amend- 
ments. They were reported, and the House signified 
that they were not satisfactory, and repeated their 



1737.J 43 

demand of a Iree conterenco. Tliis was assented to 
with notice of the time and place. New managers 
were nominated by the Assembly, who reporting in 
favour of the amendments, they were accordingly 
adopted. Mr. Alexander was of this last committee. 
The bill, as it was at first framed, had absurdly, in 
derogation of the prerogative, made it necessary to 
hold an Assembly in the capital and not elsewhere. 
But the loss of bills for regulating elections and ad- 
justing the fees of officers, contributed greatly to the 
general dissatisfaction ; they were botli carried up 
to the Council, who were silent as to the former, 
till stimulated by a message concerning its progress, 
and then apologized for their non-concurrence, till 
they could be informed of all the services the officers 
were to perform, which were not then to be obtained 
in the multiplicity of business and at the close of the 
session. The act against corruption in elections, 
which also went up late, was retarded by the propo- 
sal of amendments ; upon the receipt of which, Mr. 
Alexander was desirous to appeal to the people, by 
printing both the bill and the alterations. He lost 
his motion by a single voice, and the bill was never 
returned. 

Mr. Clarke put an end to the session three days 
afterwards, affecting the highest satisfaction with their 
conduct, and expressing his gratitude for their regard 
tb his Majesty's honor. He had procured the pay 
account of the deficiency of the revenue and the 
augmentation of his own salary to fifteen hundred 
and sixty pounds, and acquired the general esteem 
without risking the resentment of his master, for the 
triennial act was soon after repealed in England, and 
the lower branches of the Legislature divided be- 
tween them the odium of all the disappointments both 
of the Crown and the subject. 

The Assembly, before they separated, entered a 
protest on their journals against the new practice of 
the Council in concealing their concurrence in seve- 
ral laws they passed by the Lieutenant Governor, 
■^vhich had its effect, for it has not since been adhered 



44 [Chap. 1. 

to. This is a proof tliat Mr. Clarke was privy to tlie 
design, it being unusual to re-assemble alter passing 
all the laws. 

They sent the Speaker to him with their thanks, 
and requested of his favourable representation to 
procure the Royal approbation of the triennial act, 
and then adjourned themselves with his leave. 

The Cosbyan party had, for some time, considered 
the Lieutenant Governor as a deserter. He knew 
this, and grew daily suspicious of their power to in- 
jure him by the agency of the Council, whose con- 
sent was necessary, not only in the appointment of 
officers, but the grant of the waste lands of the 
Crown, from which the Governor, at that day, de- 
rived the greater part of his profits and emoluments ; 
but it was also essential to his interest to be upon 
good terms with the Assembly, for upon them he de- 
pended for the continuation of his salary, and he flat- 
tered himself that he should still be able to re-esta- 
blish the practice of a provision for years. 

In this dilemma he determined to undermine the 
popular leaders. This he effected by encouraging 
them with hopes of preferment, judging that, if they 
took the bait, the people, whom they had brought to 
despise all Senators in office, would hold them in con- 
tempt, and that then he could easily attain his own 
objects, by the dread of a dissolution ; such a turn 
would, at the same time, render the Council'^obsequi- 
ous to his interest in the land-office, where he derived 
an income, not only as Lieutenant Governor, but as 
the Secretary and Clerk. 

His stratagem succeeded to his wishes. Mr. Mor- 
ris the Speaker, Simon Johnson, and others, listened 
to his offers of places under the government, and Mr. 
Clarke promised his influence upon the Council in 
their favour, after it had been concerted that the 
Board should resolutely refuse their consent. The 
intrigues of the chief demagogues were not known 
abroad till they themselves discovered the snare, and 
they instantly fell from the heights of popularity into 
the most abject contempt. This was the condition of 



1738.] ^ 45 

the popular party, not only mistrusted but hated, 
when Mr. Clarke met them in the autumn of 1738. 

Conscious of his superiority, he reminded them, 
after proposing an address of condolence on the 
death of Queen CaroHne, that the Crown was with- 
out support by the late project, not warranted by 
usage nor consonant to gratitude, and insisted upon 
as large and long a revenue as formerly. He then 
asserted, that they had seventeen thousand pounds 
of bills in circulation, without funds to sink them and 
preserve their credit — proposed the continuation of 
the excise for that purpose, but not unless they gave 
the King's government a permanent support. He 
added the unwelcome information, that their tonnage 
duty act of 1734 was in danger of a disallowance on 
representation of the agents of other colonies — urg- 
ed the appointing one for this province — insisted on 
finishing the fortifications, and recommended unani- 
mity, as a duty to tlieir King and country. 

The elder Morris foresaw the storm, and having 
provided for himself when last in England, he an- 
nounced his appointment to the government of New- 
Jersey, and declining his services here, a writ was or- 
dered to supply that vacancy. 

No address being ordered, nor any steps taken, 
except for promoting popular bills, from the 5th to 
the 21st September, Mr. Clarke prorogued them to 
the 5th October, and again on the 11 th October to 
the next day. On the 13th he called them before 
him, and insisted upon what he had already men- 
tioned — alarmed them with the intention of the 
French, to make settlements near the Wood Creek, 
not far above Albany — advised the erection of a fort 
there, and planting in that country the Scotch emi- 
grants just arrived, and for whose relief he asked 
their aid ; added, what he had before hinted in a let- 
ter to the Speaker, that the Senecas were treating 
with Mr. Beauharnois,* then the Governor of Cana- 



* A man of sense and genteel -wanncrs, reputed to be a natural son of 
Louis the Fourteenth. 



46 [Chap. f. 

da, about the land of Irondequot, and recommended 
an immediate prior purchase.* 

They soon after formed the design of tacking 
clauses for the continuation of their paper money to 
the yearly support bill. Mr. Clarke, through their 
Speaker, intimated his objections to that proceed- 
ing ; on which they unanimously resolved not to pass 
the support bill without assurances that the paper 
money of 1 7 1 4 and 1717, and the excise to cancel the 
bills, should be continued for some years. To this 
he replied, that he would not assent without a per- 
manent revenue. They then resolved on tacking the 
clauses ; and the next day he dissolved them, after 
sharp reprehensions for their inattention to the ob- 
jects he had recommended, and to facilitate the 
changes he had in view he suspended the new writ of 
summons to the 14th July, 1739. 

The choice of Mr. Adolph Philipse for the chair 
in the next Assembly, held in March, is a proof that 
the electors were unfavourable to the anti-Cosbyan 
chiefs ; some of the warm men of the last House 
were returned, and a dread of the multitude fell upon 
both parties. The collective body, animated and 
enlightened during the late troubles by the patriotic 
publications which w^ere universally read, became 
jealous of the common interests, suspicious of all 
officers, and, by reason of former apostacies, more 
particularly vigilant respecting the conduct of such 
as themselves had raised into power. 

Mr. Clarke's speech, therefore, though importunate 
for the re-establishment of the old practices of sup- 
plies for a number of years, was cautious and sooth- 
ing ; and after urging the erection and repair of forts, 
the purchase of Irondequot, presents for the Indians, 
and aid to the Scotch emigrants from Isla, who had 



'-'' The history of the disappoiDtmerits of Captain Laufhliu Campbell and 
his Scotch associates, was anticipated in the first volume, published io 
1756, which gare offence to Mr. Colden, the Surveyor General, who was 
uneasy under the representation made in justice to those unfortunate ad- 
renturets. 



1739.] 47 

wintered here, he recommended a new law to regu- 
late juries, instead of an old expired one passed in 
1699. 

The address gave him only general assurances ot' 
a mature consideration of these points ; lamented the 
loss of the triennial act, repealed by.the King ; and 
hinted that they would offer him one for septennial 
Assembhes. 

The small-pox raged at that time in the capital, and 
the country members, though the House sat at Green- 
wich, were very desirous of a recess. To procure 
this they consented to a provision for a few months, 
and bore the affront of messages from the Council 
by their Clerk ; but when they met again in August, 
they protested against the repetition of it, and from 
this period they have been invariably brought by one 
of the members of the Council. 

It was not till this late day that the House was fur- 
nished with a set of the statutes, and the votes of the 
Commons of England, which, with the acts of the 
other Colonies, had been ordered by the Assembly, 
whose journals, though more regular than formerly, 
still discover many proofs of their ignorance of the 
usages of Parliament.* 



* What a contrast in every thing respecting the cultivation of science 
between this and the Colonies first settled bj the English. Near one hun- 
dred and thirty years had now elapsed since the discovery of New-York, 
and seventy-three from its subjection to the Crown of England. When the 
Legislature borrowed acts of Parliament from private libraries, they were 
seldom inspected, nor, perhaps, much admired. South Carolina had at- 
tempted, by an act of Assembly of the last century, to extend a variety of 
the old statutes, and renewed it again in 1712. It is entitled, " An act to 
put in force in this province the several statutes of the kingdom of England, 
or South Britain, therein particularly mentioned." The preamble is in 
these words : — " Whereas many of the statute laws of the kingdom of 
England, or South Britain, by reason uf the different way of agriculture 
and the different productions of the earth of this province from that of Eng- 
land, are altogether, and many others, which otherwise are very apt and 
good, either by reason of their limitation to particular places, or because 
in themselves they are only executive by such nominal officers as are not 
in nor suitable to the constitution of this government, are hereby become 
impracticable here." The 1st section enumerates and extends the general 
and principal acts of the statute book to the 4th and 5th of Queen Anne. 
The 2d, extends such as they refer to. The 3d, all such as relate to the 
allegiance and the rights and liberties of the subiect. The 4(h, that the 



4a , [Chap. 1. 

Mr. Clarke renewed his I'ormer attempts at the next 
convention of the Assembly, and to promote ship- 
building (an art since carried to great perfection) 
advised the giving bounties with apprentices ; and at 
the same time gave them notice of Governor Bel- 
cher's request, for the nominating commissioners to 
join with others, to be appointed by the Assembly of 
Massachusetts Bay, in ascertaining the line of parti- 
tion between the two provinces, which was repeated 
during the session by a letter from that Governor of 
the 1 th September, with a threat of carrying it out 
for themselves, if these instances were slighted ; — 
words which they fulfilled some years afterwards, to 
the great detriment of private property in this colo- 
ny, and the waste of public money, and not without 
the effusion of blood. 

The Assembly's neglect to vote an address, their 
immediate attention to a militia bill, the call for ac- 
counts of expenditures and estimates of the new for- 
tifications, were all unfavourable omens of the Lieu- 
tenant Governor's disappointment. He discovered, 



authority they give to Parliament shall, in Carolina, be construed- to be in 
the Assembly ; that to the Lord Chancellor, to the Governor and Council ; 
that their Cliief Justice shall exercise the powers of the Judges of the 
Common Pleas, King's B^nch, Exchequer, Justices of the Sessions, Com- 
missioners of Oyer and Terminer; and other officers, those of similar offi- 
cers in England. The 5th, that so much of the common law as is not al- 
tered by the statutes, so enumerated by the act taking wards and liveries, 
the old tenures in capite and knights' service, purveyance, or that part of the 
common law relating to matters ecclesiastical, not repuguaut to the settle- 
ment of the Church of England in Carolina, be declared to be in as full 
force as in England. The 6th, subjects their officers to the like penalties. 
The 7th, respects their fees. The 8th, courts and prisons. The 9th, con- 
firms the mode of conveyancing, by lease and release, prior to tlie extend- 
ing of the statute of uses. 1 0th, extends all the English statutes concern- 
ing customs, trade, and navigation. The 11th, declares all other statutes, 
not transmitted since 8lh of Anne, to be unaffected by tliis act. The 12th, 
that this act shall not affect the statute of 13th of Charles 11. — cap. 6th, 
declaring the sole riglit of the militia to be in the King. The l3tii, nothing 
in any of the above statutes, abridging the liberty of conscience or any ec- 
clesiastical liberty, were considered as extended by that act, nor to alter 
their course of proceeding and balloting jurors under a former act of As- 
sembly of 7th January 1694-5, or any other act of the province. It is not 
improbable that the British Legislature (3d George II.) took the hint of 
balloting jurors from tliat Carolina act, as they had for pleading a discount 
from one enacted here several years before the statute of 2d George II. 
• ■ap. "2?, 



3 739.] 49. 

also, by their votes an extreme parsimony in the laws 
intended for the forts; that but only one hundred 
pounds was allowed for the Irondequot purchase; 
that the project for settling the Highlanders at Wood 
Creek was disrelished, though pressed upon them by 
a pathetic petition from these poor strangers, for they 
had but five voices against postponing the considera- 
tion of their affecting circumstances. He saw ano- 
ther, for reducing his own salary; and that attempts 
w^ere made to lessen the petty allowances received 
by the Judges ; and, at last, they concurred in a reso- 
lution to support the credit of the paper emissions of 
1714 and 1717, if their bill for continuing them with 
the excise did not pass into a law ; upon which he 
prorogued them for six days, and sharply reprehend- 
ed their inattention to the great object of his wishes. 
After proposing the example of the British Commons 
for their imitation, he adds, " they have ever been jeal- 
ous of the rights and liberties of the people, yet have 
always been zealous and forward to support the go- 
vernment that protects them. They give a gross sum 
for the support of government. They don't touch 
upon the application or disposition of it, that being 
the legal and known prerogative of the Crown ; and 
the deficiencies are made good in the like manner." 

Having observed that he had passed the militia bill 
before he prorogued them, they no sooner made a 
House again, on the 9th November, than they pro- 
tested against the omission of the Council, who had 
neglected to notify their concurrence in that act, as 
inconsistent with the ancient practice of the good 
correspondence of the Legislature ; but thought fit 
to send up with their favourite bill to continue the 
paper money and the excise duty, another, for the 
erection and repair of the forts, and a third provid- 
ing for a revenue. But this last was only for one year, 
and nothing was as yet done towards the application 
of the money to be raised by it. To win upon their 
generosity, the sagacious politician, as soon as the 
Council had passed the two first bills, convened both 
Houses, and.^ave them his assent, saying, when he 

7 



50 [Chap. I. 

signed them according to our unparliamentary prac- 
tice,* '*• I do this as the highest instance I can give of 
my care for the credit anti vveliare of the colony, and 
of the confidence 1 have in your honor." The Coun- 
cil conspired Avilh him, and immediately sent Mr. 
llorsmanden to acquaint them of their concurrence 
in the revenue bill ; and soon after the House voted 
a salary to the Lieutenant Governor of thirteen hun- 
dred pounds; and by the application bill, not only 
paid off the arrears, but secured the officers for the 
ensuing year. To Mr. Horsmanden, Avho had been 
constituted the third Judge in 17.37, they allowed 
seventy-five pounds for his past services, and, in fu- 
ture, a salary of iifty pounds. The session ended on 
the 17th November. 

The inattention of this day to the emigrants from 
vScotland, was unpardonable. They were objects of 
compassion, and the measure of establishing them 
upon the northern frontier, as they desired to be, was 
recommended by every motive of sound policy. 
There was no excuse for neglecting so lair an oppor- 
tunity, not only of forming a barrier against the ne<v 
encroachments of the French at Crown Point, but of 
encouraging other useful adventurers to follow their 
fortunes, to a colony weakened by the removal of 
many in the late troubles. Colonel Morris, who was 
an active member of the Assembly at that day, but 
not present at the rejection of amotion made by Mr. 
Ijivingston for a gift of seven pounds to every one of 
the seventy Scotch families imported by Capt. Camp- 
bell, intormed the author, that it was owing to a dis- 
covery that the Lieutenant Governor and Mr. Colden, 
the Surveyor General, insisted upon their fees and 



* There is a clause ia King' William's charter to the Massachusetts Bay, 
«« That no laws, ortliiiancos, elections, or acts of government whatsoever, 
shall be of any validity without the consent of the King's Governor, signi- 
fied in writing." And it is probable the usage commenced here, in conse- 
quence of an instruction. The Clerk prepares his note at the foot of 
every bill — " I assent to iliis bill enacting the law, and order it to be en- 
rolled.'' This he reads with the title, and the Governor subscribes hi- 
jpame in the presence of the Council and Assembly. 



]739.] 



iil 



a certain share of the lands ; and that he could make 
no other apology for the public neglect of those un- 
fortunate adventurers than an abhorrence of being 
duped by the self-interested motives of the public 
officers. Had that object been patronized by the 
Legislature, we might have seen vast forests, between 
the Avaters of Hudson's River and the two northern 
Lakes on the west and the River Connecticut on the 
east, cultivated by a hardy and usetul multitude, to 
the great augmentation of the commerce of the co- 
lony, and then have saved it from tempting the ava- 
rice of a neighbouring Governor, whose ill founded 
claims, representations, and intrusions, have given 
rise to controversies and law-suits, injurious to pri- 
vate property, and destructive of the public tran- 
quillity.* 



* Mr. Golden, to vindicate Mr. Clarke and to exculpate himself, though 
not named in the former representation of Campbell's disappointment, gave 
himself the trouble of two letters, to the author, of the 15th January and 
17th February 1759. He alleges, that the project failed through the po- 
verty and discord of the Scotch emigrants ; that Campbell's followers re- 
fused to settle under him ; that himself alone was unable to improve the 
quantity he asked for; and that the Assembly even disinclined to contri- 
bute to their relief; and that, from the incapacity of the company to com- 
ply with the conditions of the King's instructions, he thinks the Executive 
without blame. The author's object being general, he declined entering 
into any partial controversy respecting the criminality of individuals. Let 
it suffice, that the account given was consistent with information procured 
from Mr. Alexander, whose intimacy with Mr. Golden gives it force ; and 
that Colonel Livingston, whose compassion excited him to make the mo- 
tion, told the author, on the 16th December 1777, that it was with design 
to raise the patent fees, the want of which obstructed tlie grant, and that 
he omitted to express it in his motion, as the disinclination of tiie House to 
gratify their avarice would have most certainly defeated his design, and 
that he lost it by a suspicion that the contribution was to be so applied, 
though asked as under the cover of enabling them to settle the lands at 
Wood Greek. The Lieutenant Governor's speech had confirmed iheir 
jealousy ; there was this clause in it — " The peopling of that part of the 
country to the northward of Saratoga will be of great advantage to the 
province, as well in strengthening the frontier as enlarging your trade. 
Several families arrived here last fall from North Britain, who are willing 
to settle there, and more expected from thence this year; but as they are 
poor, they will want some help to enable them to subsist their families un- 
til, by their labour, they can raise provisions to subsist themselves, and I 
am persuaded that you will give them some needful subsistence." Captain 
Campbell himself also presented a petition to excite thechai'ity of the As- 
sembly. Do these pro<jfs accord wi'ih Mr. Colden's suggestion, that 
Campbell and his colonists were so far at variance as to refuse to settle 
under him. 



52 rChan. T 



The Spanish war commencing soon afterwards, 
there was a short session in the summer of 1740, in 
which the Assemhly contributed money to accelerate 
the levies of several hundred men, under Colonel 
Blakenej, for an expedition against the island of Cu- 
ba, and many of Campbell's followers, who were 
starving, through his inability and the public parsi- 
moijy, enlisted for that service, and perished in the 
expedition afterwards directed against Carthagena. 

There was a hotter meeting in September, when 
Mr. Clarke pressed them to provide for further le- 
vies, towards the defence of Oswego ; a law to pre- 
vent desertion from the sea and land forces ; the re- 
pair of the chapel of the Mohawks, among whom Mr. 
Barclay had officiated with a small salary from the 
colony with some prospects of success ; and the re- 
venue act being expired, he renewed his request for 
the ancient support. 

The Assembly would not add to their late gift of 
two thousand five hundred pounds towards the expe- 
dition ; thought the British statutes gave sufficient 
relief against desertions ; that the Indian fort, in the 
Mohawks' country, was sufficient for assembling all 
the Christian converts of that tribe, and that, if they 
increased, a church ought to be built by private con- 
tributions. They then called upon the Council for 
a committee to aid them in forming a fee bill, and 
sent up another to limit the continuance of Assem- 
blies. 

The Governor took no public notice of these trans- 
actions ; but when they had made provision for the 
war, according to the modern example, prorogued 
them. 

The attempt to regulate the fees of officers failed 
hv the neglect of the committee of the Assembly to 
meet on the subject, but the septennial bill, passed by 
the lower house, was lost by the nonconcurrence of 
the Council. 

The Lieutenant Governor could not avoid being 
displeased with the dependence created by the new 
niode of a vearly revenue, raised by one act, and the 



J 741.] 53 

settlement and payment ot" salaries and debts by an- 
other ; especially as, at the last session, a division had 
been called on the question, whether instead ^f thir- 
teen hundred pounds he should not be stinted to se- 
ven hundred and eighty pounds ; and for allowing 
nothing to the two puisne Judges: and therefore, 
when he met them again on the LOth of April 1741, 
he addressed them in a long speech, in which he ap- 
plauds their felicity, excites them to gratitude, and 
charges them with the wanton abuse of prosperity in 
demanding a Treasurer of their own, and then in- 
sisting that the revenue should pass into his instead 
of the Receiver General's hands, who had a salary 
out of the royal quit-rents, observes, that to rid them- 
selves of the check of the Auditor General, an offi- 
cer estabhshed in the reign of Charles 2nd, the As- 
sembly, after the expiration of the revenue in 1709, 
(which had been before given without any applica- 
tion,) had refused to support the government, unless 
they had the appointment of the salaries, nor would 
provide for the Auditor General, who, from soon af- 
ter the revolution, had a constant allowance. " Thus 
(to use his own words) fixing on themselves the de- 
pendence of the officers for whom they provided (for 
men are naturally servants to those who pay them,) 
they, in effect, subverted the constitution, assuming 
to themselves one undoubted asd essential branch of 
his Majesty's prerogative." He then imputes their 
not returning to a just sense of their duty to the late 
disorders, and recommends their re-adopting the par- 
liamentary example — "to remember, as to this pro- 
vince, a jealousy, which (says he) for some years has 
obtained in England, that the plantations are not 
without thoughts of throwing off their dependence 
on the Crown of England. 1 hope and believe no 
man in this province has any such intention. But 
neither my hopes or belief will have the weight of 
your actions ; and as you have it in your power,, so it 
is your duty and true interest, to do it effectually, by 
giving to his Majesty such a revenue and in such a 
manner as will enable his Majesty to pay his own of- 



U [Cliap. I. 

iicers and servants — whereby they will be reclaimed 
to their proper dependence — and such as the flou- 
rishing condition oi' the province will amply admit; 
which, from the great increase of trade and people, 
is well known to be vastly better than it was above 
forty years ago, and for many years before and after 
such a revenue as I speak of was given by the then 
Assemblies ; at the same time that large sums of mo- 
ney were raised to pay detachments of the militia, 
which were sent to the frontiers for their defence in 
time of war." 

After hinting his apprehensions of a war with 
France, he advises the erection of batteries for the 
ordnance and stores lately supplied by the crown; 
the support of Oswego, and presents to secure the 
Indian alliance ; and adds — " I have done my duty 
and discharged my conscience, in giving you this 
warning: do yours, and save your country from ruin. 
At present, if any part of the province should be in- 
vaded, and money absolutely necessary for any ser- 
vice be required, even in such an exigency I cannot, 
either with or without the advice of the Council, draw 
for a penny, a circumstance well worth your consi- 
deration." 

He then proposed a more efficacious militia act ; 
the appointment of an agent in England ; the erec- 
tion of. new buildings in the room of those lately 
burnt in the Fort ; and a night watch, upon the sus- 
picion of a conspiracy among the slaves. 

A diversion of men's minds from their usual objects 
of attention to the negro plot, the Governor's losses 
in the late conflagration, and the fresh instance of the 
bounty of the crown, seemed to favor Mr. Clarke's 
exertions at tliis juncture, for converting the Assem- 
bly to their ancient confidence in the Executive. 

It was at his instance the cannon and stores were 
increased : there had been no warlike supplies to the 
colony since the year 1708. Those now sent, were 
valued at six thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
three pounds, fifteen shillings and eight-pence ster- 
ling. Their iron ordnance consisted of ninety-six 



1741.] J . 55 

guns, fifteen of which were 32-pounders, twenty-four 
J8-pounders, and twenty 12-pounders; the rest were 
of various inferior sizes. 

The Assembly could not avoid an argumentative 
address, for they were determined not to cede the 
advantages they had gained in the late patriotic 
struggles. 

They confess their gratitude to the crown for many 
favors, but balance the account by their ample and 
cheerful supports to it ; admit the confidence of their 
ancestors in the officers of government, but assert, 
that it was forfeited by misapplications of the reve- 
nue, and that Queen Anne, on that account, consent- 
ed to their (having a Treasurer of their own. They 
appeal to his own knowledge, that the squandering 
of the public money gave rise to the two long bills 
for discharging the debts of the colony, and that the 
excise on strong liquors was a fund applied to, and 
which still stood mortgaged for, that purpose. 

They observe, that formerly the crown rents, and 
the casual revenue by forfeitures, contributed to the 
support of government, though this was now discon- 
tinued. They boast of contributing beyond their 
neighbours ; that they provide fuel and lights for the 
troops posted here, and presents to the Indians ; al- 
lege that they have erected a large battery in the 
capitol, and others elsewhere, and victualled five 
hundred volunteers for an expedition i% the West 
Indies. 

They deny that wantonness of prosperity or the 
late division had any influence upon the modern 
scheme of annual supplies, or that any of the officers 
of the crown or public creditors have suffered by the 
change. f 

They avail themselves of his consent, and that of 
other Governors, to bills making particular applica- 
tions of public money, and intimate that the Lords of 
Trade ^link the practice reasonable. 

To the insinuation of a suspicion of a thirst in Ame- 
rica to independency, they " vouch that not a single 
person in the colony has any such thoughts or desire ; 



56 [Chap. 1. 

for (as they add) under what government can we be 
better protected, or our liberties and properties so 
well secured ?■' 

They then declare their disinclination to pass any 
bill for supporting the government, till the present 
one is nearly expired, nor then, unless according to 
the late model. They promise an attention to what 
he recommended respecting the forts, Oswego, and 
the militia; agree that an agent may be useful, if he 
is made totally dependent upon the Assembly. After 
lamenting the conflagration of the Fort buildings, 
they give oblique insinuations that no provision will 
be made for the future residence of Governors within 
the walls of the Fort ; and after confessing the King's 
favor in the late gift, they ungraciously reflect upon 
the omission of powder, and indulge a degree of ridi- 
cule on the utility of such an ample supply of ord- 
nance without it. 

Mr. Clarke did not forget to mention in his answer, 
that Queen Anne's consent to their appointment of a 
Treasurer, respected not the ordinary revenue, but 
sums raised for extraordinary uses ;* and he promised 
that justice should be done for any misapplication of 
the public money they could point out ; adding, that 
though Mr. Horatio Walpole, the Auditor General, 
had a salary, yet fees were due to him for auditing 
the accounts of the revenue, which in other provinces 
were usuallj^ paid out of the money accounted for, as 
they had formerly been here; and that he saw no 



* There is a clause in the correspondence with the agent, which may gire 
some information to the reader. The letter from the speaker, of the 11th 
November, 1751, was in these words : " I have examined into the affair 
of our Treasurer's appointment, and find it to belfhus : — In the infancy of 
this colony, all public monies were made payable to his Majesty's Receiver 
General, but were so greatly mismanaged and misapplied in the years 1702 
and 1705, during the government of Lord Cornbury, afterwards Earl of 
Clarendon, that tlie Assembly attempted to put the money raised by them, 
into tlie hands of a person named by tlicm in the act by wliich the money 
was raised. The then Governor would not assent to that bill, •ntil he had 
acquainted her Majosty, the late Queen Anne, witli the matter. Her Ma- 
jesty was thereupon graciously pleased to direct the said Governor (as be 
himself^acquainted the Assembly, in his speech of the 27th September, 
1706,) to permit the General Assembly to appoint their own Treasurer, 



1741.] 57 

reason why it should not be so in future. Only two 
acts passed at this meeting, which continued to the 
13th June ; one, putting the fortifications in a respec- 
table condition, and anotlier for a military watch. 

The winter which ushered in this year, (ever since 
called the hard winter,) was distinguished by the 
sharpest frost, and the greatest quantity of snow, 
within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. The 
weather was intensely severe from the middle of No- 
vember to the latter end of March. The snow, by 
repeated falls, w^as at length six feet above the sur- 
face of the earth ; and the Hudson river passable 
upon the ice, as low as the capital, within thirty miles 
li'om the open sea : cattle of all sorts perished by the 
want of fodder; and the deer of the forests w^ere 
either starved or taken, being unable to browse or 
escape through the depth of the snow. The poor, 
both in town and country, were distressed for food and 
fuel ; and by the scarcity of these articles, the prices 
of almost every thing else was raised, and though 
since reduced, yet never so low as in the preceding 
year. When the frost relaxed, there was a continu- 
ation of the flight of wild pigeons from the southward, 
in greater flocks than was ever before known; and what 
was still more singular, in the month of March, five 
or six weeks earlier than in more temperate seasons. 
These birds nestle in the northerly woods of the con- 
tinent, and retire towards autumn to ihe southerly 
provinces. Their flesh is admired here, and being 



for extraordinary uses, and which were no pari of her Majesfyfs standlv.g 
revenue. And by her Majesty's standing- revenue, it seems was then un- 
derstood the quit-rents reserved on lands granted by tlie crown, forfeitures, 
seizures, &c., which were then all applied towards supporting- the govern- 
ment in this colony ; for ever since that time, all monies raised by the As- 
sembl}' have been put into the hands of their own Treasurer, and the quit- 
rents, &c. been paid to his Majesty's Receiver General, and have since 
been taken from their former application, and appropriated by the crown 
to other uses. The first Treasurer I find was appointed by act in the year 
170G : the second, who is now Treasurer, was appointed only by a vote of 
the House, and approved of by Mr. Burnet, then Governor of this colony; 
and I do not find tliat the Assembly's right to appoint such an officer, has 
been disputed by any Governor of this colony since the first allowance 
thereof bv the late Queen Anne." — (Vide History of Ktw-York, p. J 390 

8 



50 [Chap. I. 

taken in nets in such plenty, greatly contribute to the 
relief of the poor. While nestling, the males and fe- 
males resort alternately to the salt meadows for food, 
and by turns brood over tlie eggs. The two sexes 
at this season are never taken together, though the 
flocks are innumerable, and sometimes miles in length. 
It is often asserted, and generally believed, that undi- 
gested rice has been found in their crops ; and be- 
cause the pigeon is a bird of very swift wing, it is 
conjectured that they bring this food from the Caro- 
linas ; and yet there certainly in the spring is no 
standing ripe rice in the fields. 

The conflagration of the chapel and buildings in 
the Fort, on Wednesday the 18th of March, was at 
first imputed to accident, or the carelessness of an 
artificer employed in soldering one of the gutters of 
the main edifice, the residence of our Governors. 
The roof, which was of shingles, had taken fire with- 
out observation, and the wind blew fresh from the 
south-east. The usual alertness of the inhabitants was 
checked by their dread of the explosion of the ma- 
gazine, and the flames soon communicated to the 
chapel ; the barracks, and the Secretary's office 
erected over the Fort gate, were utterly consumed. 

Mr. Van Home, a militia officer, who indulged a 
blind credulity that the fire was premeditated by the 
negroes, and who, for beating to arms, and putting up 
a night watch, was nicknamed Major Drum^ propa- 
gated his own fears to others, and in a iew days after- 
wards the consternation was universal. A second fire 
broke out on the 2.0th, a third on the 1st of April, and 
two on the 4th. Coals disposed for burning a hay- 
stack, were discovered on the .5th, and the day after, 
two other houses took fire ; and while the magistrates 
were convened for enquiring into suspicious words 
dropped by certain slaves, another house was in 
flames, and before that was extinguished, a blaze 
appeared from another building, and a negro was dis- 
covered flying over fences from the spot. 

No man now doubted of the reality of a plot, but 
for what end was only conjecture. That a few slaves 



1741.] 69 

would hope to effect a massacre of their masters, or 
thus vindicate their liberties, was the height of absur- 
dity : but the fears of the multitude led them to pre- 
sume nothing else ; and perhaps that extravagance 
then gave birth to the proofs by which it was after- 
wards supposed to be incontestably confirmed. 

When Mr. Clarke spoke to his Assembly, on the 
15th of April, he ascribed the destruction at the Fort 
to accident, in mending a gutter, and the rest of the 
fires to design. But no discovery was made, till the 
Grand Jury of the Supreme Court found a clue by the 
examination of a girl of the name of Mary Burton, 
who was a bought servant to John Hughson, a shoe- 
maker, and keeper of a low tavern in the west quar- 
ter of the town. 

There had been a burglary committed in the house 
of Robert Hogg, on the 28th of February. The goods 
stolen were brought to Hughson's, and, as the girl 
said, by Wilson, a lad belonging to the Flamborough 
ship of war, and three negroes. They were received 
by another maid-servant o/ the house, who, with two 
of the negroes, were committed upon the accusation 
of Mary Burton. The inquest pressed hard upon the 
witness concerning the transactions at that house, it 
being known that it was often frequented by negroes, 
who were served there with liquor. She confessed, 
after much importunity, that certain slaves caballed 
there in private, and had formed a conspiracy to set 
the town on fire ; but denied that any white person 
was present at either of the consultations for that pur- 
pose, except herself, Hughson, his wife, and the other 
maid. From this testimony, which varied upon fur- 
ther examinations, the jails were crowded with the 
accused, amounting to twenty-one whites, and above 
one hundred and sixty slaves. 

The whole summer was spent in the prosecutions ; 
every new trial led to further accusations : a coinci- 
dence of slight circumstances, was magnified by the 
general terror into violent presumptions ; tales col- 
lected without doors, mingling with the proofs given 
at the bar, poisoned the minds of the jurors ; and the 



60 [Chap. L 

sanguinary spirit oi' the day suffered no clieck till 
Mary, the capital informer, bewildered by frequent 
examinations and suggestions, lost her first impres- 
sions, and began to touch characters, which malice 
itself did not dare to suspect. But before this, thir- 
teen blacks were burnt at the stake, eighteen hanged, 
and seventy transported upon conditional pardons. 
Hughson, his wife, and the maid, with one Ury, died 
at the gallows, and Hughson and a negro were gib- 
beted. 

Ury was capitally accused, not only as a conspira- 
tor, but for oniciating as a Popish priest, upon an old 
law of the colony, passed at the instance of the Earl 
of Bellamont, to drive the French missionaries out of 
the territories of our Indian allies; and he was con- 
victed on both indictments. A letter from General 
Oglethorpe, the visionary Lycurgus of Georgia, to 
Mr. Clarke, of 16th of May, gave weight to the sus- 
picions against this wretch. After the discovery that 
some Spanish Catholic slaves, taken in certain late 
prizes, were accomplices in the plot, the letter con- 
tained the following passage: — "Some intelligence I 
had of a villanous design of a very extraordinary na- 
ture, and it was very important; viz. that the Spa- 
niards had employed emissaries to burn all the ma- 
gazines and considerable towns in the English North 
America, thereby to prevent the subsisting of the 
great expedition and fleet in the West Indies; and 
that for this purpose many priests were employed, 
who pretended to be physicians, dancing masters, 
and other such kinds of occupations, and under that 
pretence to get admittance and confidence in fami- 
lies." Mr. Smith assisted, at the request of the go- 
vernment, on the trial against Ury, who asserted his 
innocence to the last; and when the ferments of that 
hour had subsided, and an opinion prevailed that the 
conspiracy extended no fiirther than to create alarms, 
for committing thefts with more ease, the fate of this 
man was lamented by some and regretted by many, 
and the proceedings against him generally condemn- 
ed as harsh, if not cruel and unjust. There was no 



1741.] 61 

resisting the torrent of jealousy, when every man 
thought himself in danger from a foe in his own house. 
The infection seized the whole Legislature, who were 
convened when these tragedies were acting in the 
court and the fields. The Grand Jurors presented a 
petition for severer laws against these unfortunate 
Africans ; and they had the thanks of the House for 
their zeal and vigor in the detection of a conspiracy 
to burn the town and murder the inhabitants, encou- 
raged by their opportunities for assembling at taverns, 
and at the common reservoir of tea-water in the sub- 
urbs, and their indulgences on Sundays for sport 
and recreation. 

The old laws were thought not sufficiently severe ; 
and yet this enslaved part of our species were under 
regulations demonstrative of the dangerous spirit of 
petty Legislatures, even under all the sunshine of the 
benevolent and merciful doctrine of Christianity. 

Their children were made slaves, if such was the 
condition of the mother by a law in 170(3, which con- 
tained no provision in their favor, even when they 
were the offspring of a lawful marriage ; so that it re- 
mained a question whether the father's slavery did 
not subject the legitimate issue of a free woman to 
servitude. They were witnesses in no case against 
a free manj and by the act of 1730, they were inca- 
pable of any contract, or the purchase of the minutest 
article necessary or convenient to the comfort of life. 
The power of the master in correcting them was dis- 
punishable in all cases, not extending to life or limb. 
They w^ere exposed to forty lashes by the decree of 
a single magistrate, as often as three of them were 
found together, or any one walking with a club out of 
his master's ground without leave; and two Justices 
might inflict any punishment short of death and am- 
putation for a blow, or the smallest assault upon any 
Christian or Jew. Nay, their masters are punish- 
able for pardoning or compounding for their faults, 
and all others for harboring or entertaining them, 
who, when suspected, are made subject to an oath 
of purgation. Every manumission of a slave is invalid. 



62 [Chap. I. 

without security in two hundred pounds to indem- 
nify the parish. They are subjected to the summary 
trial of but three Justices and five freeholders, with- 
out a challenge, even on accusations touching life ; 
and in the case of a negro, every homicide, conspi- 
racy, or attempt to kill a freeman, unless in the exe- 
cution of justice, or by misadvantage ; a rape, or an 
attempt to commit one ; the w ilful burning of a 
dwelling-house, barn, stable, out-house, stacks of 
corn or hay, nay, or may hem, if wilful, exposes to 
the punishment of death. 

Ought not humanity to revolt at these sanguinary 
institutions ? I should be chargeable with partiality 
if I did not add, that, like other immoderate laws ei- 
ther neglected or working their own remedy, they are 
seldom executed ; negroes, when capitally impeach- 
ed, being often tried in the ordinary course of justice, 
and admitted to the rights and privileges of free sub- 
jects under like accusations. 

Mr. Clarke brought his Assembly together again, 
and spoke to them, on the 17th September. General 
Wentw^orth having called for fresh recruits to the 
army m the West Indies, the Lieutenant Governor 
asked their aid for victualling them, and the repara- 
tion of the ruins in the fort. He renewed his demand 
for a generous and durable revenue, as what the King 
expected, and the expected Governor would insist 
upon, and what he thought it their interest, as well 
as duty, to grant; concluding with the remark, that 
as this would be his last speech, these instances could 
flow from no selfish motives, which weak minds might 
ascribe to them. 

The members firmly attached to the new and po- 
pular mode, soon after presented him with a long, 
harsh, ill-penned address, expressing great exultation 
on the prospect of Mr. Clinton's arrival, and their 
hope that he would bring with him the expected mi- 
litary stores, with presents for the Indians. They in- 
timate, that the quit-rent fund ought to contribute to 
the erection of a new house for the Governor ; testify 
their disinclination to give money for the levies, till 



1741.] 03 

(hey are actually raised ; refer him to their former 
address for an answer to his last speech, on the sub- 
ject of the revenue ; adding now, as a reply to what 
dropped from him in words after it was delivered, 
that the revenue, pr perly considered, was a term 
only applicable to t\e quit-rents and other dues to 
the crown, and that Jiese then did, and always had, 
passed to the hai; s of the Receiver General, and 
that since they h? ceased to be applied to the sup- 
port of governme ., the Assembly had not demanded 
any accounts of leir amount. Then, to prove an as- 
sertion in their former address, they observed, that 
though a thousand pounds were given at the beginning 
of the last French war, for building batteries at the 
Narrows, not a single stone was ever laid out towards 
that work; whereas the late erection of forts showed 
the propriety of giving the trust to commissioners of 
their own appointing. They remind him that, under 
the old form, the public creditors were sometimes 
obliged to sell their warrants at a discount, through 
the delay of payment, of which there had been no in- 
stance under the modern regulations. Towards the 
close, they assert their right to apply what they raise, 
and obliquely hint that he is of the same opinion, but 
indirectly influenced by the Auditor Geiieral : and to 
the Governor's general remark, that other colonies 
paid fees to Mr. Walpole, they oppose his own letter 
to Mr. Belcher, the late Governor of Massachusetts, 
asserting that he had received nothing from New 
England and thence, because Massachusetts is a 
considerable colony, they conclude (and certainly 
secundum artem) that he has not received any allow- 
ances from the other of our neighboring colonies. 

Mr. Clarke indulged his resentment in an unusual 
manner, for when the speaker had read the address, 
he gave them no other answer than a bow, on which 
they retired, not without some disappointment ; and 
he afterwards communicated several matters, by an 
irregular method he had before practised, in a letter 
to their speaker, instead of a message to the House. 



64 , [Chap. I. 

After the two obnoxious bills for continuino; and 
applying the revenue tor a year, were brought in, 
Mr. David Jones carried a resolve by fourteen votes 
against eleven, for postponing them till others more 
beneficial for the inhabitants in general were passed 
into laws. Mr. Clarke, upon sight of their entry, 
prorogued them for two days. When they met, they 
instantly introduced the lost bills; but soon after, 
voted one thousand five hundred and sixty pounds to 
the expected Governor, for a year from the day his 
commission should be published here; continued all 
the old allowances; voting at the same time fifty 
pounds to the Lieutenant Governor, to reimburse 
him for house-rent. 

As soon as the support bill, with several others, 
had reached the Council and obtained their concur- 
rence, Mr. Clarke sent for the House, and gave them 
the efficacy of laws. 

When the application bill was ordered to be en- 
grossed, Mr. Jones renewed his late motion, but the 
House w^as not disposed to countenance his boldness ; 
and the Lieutenant Governor, on the 27th November, 
passed it, w ith several others, and the House was ad- 
journed till the month of March. 

One of the most important acts of this session, was 
that for introducing the English practice of balloting 
for jurors. Mr. Clarke had formerly recommended 
it, and for that reason it was not forwarded till now. 
It had been passed by the Council, but Mr. Jones 
brought the draft, that it might originate in the Lower 
House ; and when it was committed, proposed to 
oblige the Quakers of Queens county, which he then 
represented, to serve as jurymen; but he could pre- 
vail upon hone but his colleague Mr. Cornet, and 
another member, to join in his motion.* 



* The honor of penning this useful law, which in the main is a compound 
of two modern statutes, was claimed both by Mr. Delancey and Mr. Hors- 
manden ; and as the text, by an incautious composition, gave ground for 
the innovation of balloting jurors in criminal causes not capital, I have in- 
sisted upon that construction, and discovered all that anxiety in the former 
for resisting and refutiug a doctrine not so favorable as the old law to the 



1741.] 6-5 

This gentleman came into public service with the 
patriots of the new x\ssembly, in 1737, and the favor- 
able opinion of his constituents, by his firm adherence 
to the project of an annual support. He was there- 
fore returned again in 1739, and then became ac- 
quainted with Mr. Clarkson, who was chosen one of 
the city members ; and these two, with Colonel Mor- 
ris the younger, who was a little in the shade for his 
compliances to Mr. Clarke, were the leading mem- 
bers of the House. 

The Lieutenant Governor trusting to his own abili- 
ties, and by the first dissolution had piqued the pride 
of Chief Justice Delancey, who, discerning the ad- 
vantages of popularity, not only for the better secur- 
ing his salary, for which he now became dependent 
upon the Assembly, but to be revenged upon the 
Lieutenant Governor, and gain an influence upon his 
successors, and with a view perhaps to the succession 
itself, studied to recommend himself to the House, 
and now, by the intervention of Mr. Clarkson, began 
an intimacy with Mr. Jones, of which he made a good 
use, and it continued to the end of his life. 

In the two late sessions, therefore, Mr. Clarke had 
little or no assistance from his Council, where Delan- 
cey kept the majority cool, himself privately abetting 
the opposition of the Lower House. 



prerogative, as in my opinion would add credit to his pretensions. But Mr. 
llorsmanden's claims never extended higher llian to a copartnership in the 
work. This note would be of no consequence, if trivial actions were not 
sometimes as characteristic as the greatest exploits. Subjoined is the re- 
port of the case. Ocloher Tom, (ToS. Samuel Stilwell at/s. Dom. On 
information upon an act of Assembly to proliibit the exportation of provi- 
sions to the French. A common venire had issued, and a pannel with 
forty-eight names was returned. Insisted by Nicol and Smith for the de- 
fendants, that the jury oui^ht to be balloted by the act of Assembly, the 
first clause by implication hjnding the crown, and the eighth having an im- 
mediate reference to the first. Kempe, Attorney General, contra, that the 
practice has been otherwise. Curia. The statute 4 & 5 William and 
Mary, of which the first section of our jury act is a copy, binds the King; 
[Hale's II. P. C. 2d vol. 273 note;) but the 8th section from George lid. 
relates to suits between parties in civil causes. Defendants' counsel then 
object, that the pannel ought then to contain but twenty-four names. 
Curia. It is bad ; but one juror being sworn, the objection is too late. Tho 
cause was tried, and the verdict pro rege. 

9 



66 [Chap. 1. 

In consequence ol this conversion and new alli- 
ance, the House was now led to serve Mr. Horsman- 
den, (who often held the pen for Delancey,) by a bill 
to give him two hundred and fifty pounds for a digest 
of the laws of the colony : and before the adjourn- 
ment, both Houses concurred in a joint address to the 
King, imploring his royal aid towards repairing the 
colony loss by the late fire ; a measure from which 
they expected to derive no other advantage than, by 
declarations of their poverty, to obviate any bad con- 
sequences from xMr. Clarke's representation, either 
of the asperity of their addresses, or their disregard 
to the great ends he had assiduously laboured to ac- 
complish, for the advancement of the authority and 
ijnlluence of the crown.* 

When the proposal for compiling the laws was ta- 
ken into consideration, the House had discovered 
what they seem to have been ignorant of, when they 
presented Mr. Clarke with the long address of 24th 
April, 1741, for in that they applaud the revolution, 
as restoring to the colony the benefit of Assemblies ; 
but, as they now perceived, in setting a rule to Mr. 
Horsmanden for executing his work, that they had 
Assemblies before that happy agra, and that there 
were some unfavorable acts of those days still in force, 
they not only authorise him to begin in Ib91, but has- 
tily give leave to Mr. Justice Philipse, who had also 
enlisted with the Chief Justice on the popular side, 
to bring in a bill, declaring all acts and ordinances 
passed before that period null and void. It was then 
already prepared; but whether, from the advanced 
state of the session, or the improbability of its success 
in so well-informed an administration, or the pru- 
dence of not stirring the old embers, and the hope 
that the new edition would Iielp to conceal what they 
wished to annul, this bill was never taken up after 



* It was concealed in the copy of the entries of the day transmitted to 
Mr. Clarke, under the pretext of decency to the King-, and transmitted, 
not by him to the Secretary of State, but in a private letter to Mr. Clinton, 
the n^W Governor. 



1742-43.] 67 

the first reading. Of the digesting act, Mr. Horsman- 
den took no advantage, hoping greater gain by com- 
piling the proceedings against the late conspirators, 
under the title of the History of the Negro Plot ; he 
left the digest to be executed by other hands, which 
was done in 1751. 

Mr. Clarke's glory being in the wane, and the As^ 
sembly looking out for the rising of a new sun, they 
took the unprecedented liberty, at their next meet" 
ing, on the 16th of March, 1742, to request a further 
adjournment. He gratified them till the 20th April ; 
and two days afterwards, insisted upon their repair 
of the town and fort; payment for the transportation 
of ordnance to the interior frontier; the rearing new 
buildings for the Governor's residence; the victual- 
ling and transporting recruits to General Wentworth ; 
the support of agents in the Indian country; and the 
amendment of the militia law. 

They gave him no answer, but in a few days ap- 
propriated a small sum for repairing fortifications, 
and forwarding the volunteers to the West Indies ; 
and when the act for this purpose was passed, with 
another regulating the payment of quit-rents and land 
partitions, they adjourned, and did not meet again 
upon business till the 13th of October, when he re- 
newed his request for a permanent revenue, a new 
act for the support of Oswego, and the conveyance 
of twenty more recruits to the West Indian army. 

Except an act for securing Oswego, little was done 
but to provide the ordinary supplies and salaries for 
the year ; and they separated before the expiration 
of that month. 

He repeated his requests on the 21st April, 1743, 
and urged their supplying the magazines with ammu- 
nition, ball, and otSier necessary stores ; with which 
they were piqued, as Mr. Clinton, at their private in- 
stance, had asked for them in England, and did not 
succeed. - 



6S [Chap. II. 



CHAPTER II. 

From Govrnior Clarke''s return to Englanrf, to the appoint- 
ment of Governor Clinton. 

With a sullen (Visrogard of the speccli, tlicy has- 
tene'd to a close of the session ; and after the passing 
three bills, neither of extensive or permanent utility, 
they took their leave of each other, and never met 
again, except for turthcr adjournments, till Mr. Clin- 
ton arrived. 

Though Mr. Clarke liad several children, they 
made no connexions in the colony. After previous 
dispositions, he returned in 1715 to England, to pos- 
sess a handsome estate in Cheshire, purchased with 
his American acquisitions. He was taken prisoner 
on the passage, but found means on his arrival, to 
procure a parliamentary donation superior to his 
losses both by the tire and his captivity. By his 
offices of Secretary, Clerk of the Council, Counsellor, 
and Lieutenant Governor, he had every advantage of 
inserting his own, or the name of some other person 
in trust for h^m, in the numerous grants, which he was 
in a condition, tor near half a century, to quicken or 
retard; and his estate, when he left us, by the rise 
of his lands and the population of the colony, was 
estimated at one hundred thousand pounds. 

His lady, who was a Hyde, a woman of tine accom- 
plishments, and a distant relation of that branch of 
the family so highly distinguished by the famous Lord 
Chancellor Clarendon, died at New-York ; but Mr. 
Clarke survived her to about the year i7Gl, having 
lived in the alHuence he acquired in America, and 
leaving the world at a very advanced age. 

Mr. Clinton was the son of the late Karl of Lincoln, 
and uncle to the then Earl, who had not long before 
united himsell" to the Newcastle tamily, by his mar- 
riage with Mr. Pelham's daughter. The Governor 
had spent his life in the navy; and preferring ease 



1743.] 69 

and good cheer to the restless activity of ambition, 
there wanted nothing to engage the interest of his 
powerful patrons in his favor, than to hurnor a sim- 
ple-hearted man, who had no ill-nature, nor sought 
any thing more than a genteel frugality and common 
civility, while he was mending his fortunes, till his 
friends could recall him, and with justice to their own 
characters and interests, to some indolent and more 
lucrative station. 

He arrived, with Mrs. Clinton, a lady of a charac- 
ter very different from his own, and several young 
children, on Thursday the 22d September, J 743. 

His commission was published the same day, and 
people of all ranks, in his progress to the Town Hall 
lor that purpose, testified a vociferous joy. He soon 
learnt that the Assembly were under an adjournment 
to meet in a few days, and that the multitude would 
be pleased with an opportunity for a new choice of 
Assemblymen. The first act of his administration 
was a dissolution of the House, on the 27th of Sep- 
tember, and writs were the same day made out for 
convening another. 

While the chiefs of the country were feasting with 
and recommending themselves to the new Governor, 
the elections were conducted without tumult, and 
with the change of not more than seven members. 
Mr. Clarke had displeased the principal zealots of 
the two parties, which took their rise in Cosby's ad- 
ministration ; Van Dam was superannuated ; Alex- 
ander and Smith engrossed by their private concerns, 
and immersed in the labors of their profession. De- 
lancey falling in with the spirit they had raised, as 
most favorable to his resentment against Mr. Clarke, 
and being in some favor with the leaders of the last 
Assembly, had his eye turned to the Governor ; and 
thus the multitude were left to that torpor which ge- 
nerally prevails when they are uninfluenced by the 
arts and intrigues of the restless and designing sons 
of ambition. 

The session opened on the 8th of November, and 
continued only to the 17th of December. They gave 



70 [Chap. II. 

the Governor a salary of tifteen iiundred and sixty 
pounds, one hundred pounds for his house-rent, four 
hundred pounds for fuel and candle-light to himself 
and tlie garrison of the independent companies, one 
hundred and fifty pounds to enable him to visit the 
Indians, eight hundred pounds to make presents to 
those tribes, and one thousand more for the unsuc- 
cessful solicitations of tlie King's aid, at their instance, 
towards rebuilding the Fort, and obtaining a supply 
of ammunition. They continued the salary of three 
hundred pounds to the Chief Justice ; and now, with- 
out opposition, voted one hundred pounds a year to 
Mr. Justice Philipse, half that sum to Mr. Horsman- 
den, the third Judge ; and, on motion of Mr. Morris, 
began the practice of enabling the Governor and 
Council to draw upon their Treasurer for contingent 
services, now limited to sixty pounds, but afterwards 
increased to one hundred pounds per annum. The 
Governor, in return, assented to all the bills that were 
offered him, without any objection to those limiting 
the support to a year ; another for septennial Assem- 
blies ; and a third, which, by giving a remedy for the 
recovery of legacies at common law, according to the 
project of the anti-Cosbyan patriots, gratified the ge- 
neral disgust raised in the late heats against the au- 
thority of the Court of Chancery ; the business of 
which was, by this act, considered as somewhat 
abridged. 

In this session, the House adjudged that personal 
residence was not requisite to qualify a member, and 
therefore admitted Mr. Ludlow to a seat for the 
county of Orange, though his dwelling was at New- 
York. And it is also worthy of remark, that they 
applauded the practice of dissolving the Assembly 
upon appointment of a Governor in Chief, informing 
Mr. Clinton in their address, that the first instance to 
the contrary gave rise to discontents, and that the 
last had furnished a great handle to the late divisions. 

On the prospect of a rebellion in Scotland, the 
Lords Justices despatched orders for military prepa- 
ratioris, which occasioned a call of the Assembly in 



1744.] 71 

April 1744, and the Governor's renewal of his im- 
portunity for a supply of the magazine, rebuilding 
the Fort, appointing agents, attending to Oswego, 
strenstheningr the hands of the commissioners for In- 
dian affairs, and for guardnig those allies against the 
intrigues of the French. 

Both Houses strove to outvie each other in this 
alarm ; and a joint address was immediately present- 
ed, to testify their abhorrence of the Scottish rebel- 
lion and a Popish Pretender ; large sums were given 
for the fortifications ; three thousand pounds voted 
towards a mansion house for the Governor; and the 
arrears due to Mr. Barclay, the Mohawk missionary, 
paid off! After which the House adjourned to July; 
when the war having been declared, and the Indians 
visited by the Governor, he called upon them for fur- 
ther expenditures on the northern frontier, not only 
for adding to the works, but to co-operate with com- 
missioners from Massachusetts Bay, in cuhivating a 
more firm and extensive alliance with the savages of 
the wilderness. He recommended also the fitting 
out armed vessels to guard the coast, and made his 
third request to them for constituting agents at the 
British Court. He backed his speech with a message, 
more particularly to explain his general requisitions; 
and very properly proposed the construction of a 
fort, at the joint expense of this and the eastern co- 
lonies, in the neighborhood of Crown Point, and an- 
other at Irondequot, or near it, at a common charge, 
to secure the fidelity of the Senecas, the strongest 
and most wavering of all the six confederated tribes. 
He was still more importunate on these subjects, af- 
ter the flight of the Indian traders from Oswego upon 
the news of a declaration of war ; and added his de- 
mands for the support of certain prisoners brought in 
by the privateers. 

The House, perceiving the insufficiency of their 
duties upon commerce to raise a competent fund for 
the public exigencies, and that it was expedient to 
lessen that income and encourage privateering, by 
exempting prize goods from all impost, proceeded 



ri 



[Chap. II. 



with some hesitation, being disinclined to that gene- 
ra! taxation to which they would be obliged to sub- 
mit, and foreseeing their own animosities in the as- 
sessing of the county quotas for a partition of the 
burden. 

At this juncture the Council, to quicken their mo- 
tions, requested, by Doctor Colden and Mr. Murray, 
a free conference, to which they assented. Mr. De- 
lancey opened it, and urged the necessity of strength- 
ening the garrison of Oswego, lately deserted by the 
traders ; and they were brought to join in an address, 
imploring the Governor to send a detachment of fifty 
men to that fortress, for whom the Lower House im- 
mediately voted a supply ; and agreeing to give a 
sum for the support of the prisoners in the colony, 
they addressed the Governor, complimenting liim on 
his vigilance and clemency, and entreated that he 
would find means to send them away. 

When they had provided the ordinary yearly sup- 
port, and for many other expenses, and were desir- 
ous of a recess, Mr. Clinton, observing that no pro- 
vision was made for the general Indian alliance 
proposed by the Massachusetts Bay Assembly, en- 
treated their attention to it as a great and important 
object, much urged by Governor Shirley in a late 
letter : but their generosity being exhausted, or their 
fears excited, they resolved it to be imprudent to en- 
gage in the scheme, without a previous plan of it; 
and they were sent home on the 21st of September. 

The French attempt upon Annapolis having rous- 
ed the eastern colonies to the bold design, which 
they accomplished in the year 171.'), by the reduction 
of Louisburgli ; Mr. Clinton, animated by Mr. Shir- 
ley's example, sent them ten pieces of field ordnance, 
with the necessary warlike implements, and in March 
solicited the Assembly to co-operate in that enter- 
prise. He took the same opportunity to press the 
equipment of a guard-ship for the defence of the 
coast ; the appointment of agents ; the construction 
of more inland forts ; further presents to the Indians; 
•money to defray the march and transportation of the 



1745.] 73 

detachments and supplies to Oswego ; liberal sums 
for contingent expenses ; further aid for supporting 
prisoners ; provision to enable him to send commis- 
sioners to join with others in a general treaty with the 
Indian nations ; and a union with the rest of the co- 
lonies, both of force and councils, agreeably to a 
royal instruction continued from the revolution to 
this day.* 



* The instructions referred to, show the early attention of the crown to 
this great object. The following are copied from the book given to Mr. 
Montgomery : — 

" 83. Whereas it has been thought requisite that the general security of 
our plantations upon the continent of America be provided for, by a con- 
tribution in proportion to the respective abilities of each plantation ; and 
whereas the northern frontiers of the province of Mew-York, being most 
exposed to an enemy, do require an extraordinary charge, for the erecting 
and maintaining of forts necessar)' for the defence thereof ; and whereas 
orders were given by King William the Third, for the advancing of five 
hundred pounds sterling towards a fort in the Onondago country, and of two 
thousand pounds sterling towards the rebuilding the forts at Albany and 
Schenectady ; and likewise by letters, under his royal sign manual, direct^ 
ed to the Governors of divers of the plantations, to recommend to the Coun- 
cils and general Assemblies of the said plantations, that they respectively 
furnish a proportionable sum towards the fortifications on the northern fron- 
tiers of our said province of New- York — viz. 

Rhode-Island and Providence Plantation, - - - Jd. 150 
Connecticut, ------------- 450 

Pennsylvania, ------------- 350 

Maryland, 650 

Virginia, 900 

INfaking together, - L. 2,500 
And whereas we have thought fit to direct, that you also signify to our pro- 
vince of Nova Caesarea, or New-Jersey, that the sums which we have at 
present thought fit to be contributed by them, if not already done, in pro- 
portion to what has been directed to be supplied by our other plantations as 
aforesaid, are two hundred and fifty pounds sterling for the division of East 
New-Jersey, and two hundred and fifty pounds sterling for the division of 
West New-Jersey : you are therefore to inform yourself what has been 
done therein, and v^hat remains further to be done, and to send an account 
thereof to us, and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, aa 
aforesaid. 

" 84. And you are also, in our name, instantly to recommend to our 
Council and the general Assembly of our said province of New- York, that 
they exert the utmost of their power in providing, without delay, what 
further shall be requisite for repairing, erecting, and maintaining of such 
forts in all parts of the province, as you and they shall agree upon. 

" 85. And you are likewise to signify to our said Council and the said 
general Assembly, for their further encouragement, that besides the contri- 
butions to be made towards the raising and maintaining of forts and fortifi- 
cations OD that frontier, as above mentioned, it is our will and pleasure, that 

10 



74 [Chap. 11. 

The Assembly, conscious of their neglect of his 
recommendation for constituting an agent, took the 
repetition unkindly. They had, on that account, been 
much censured without doors, a bill having been 
brought into Parliament for preventing the colony 
paper money from being a legal tender, and to pre- 
vent which no steps had been taken, though it was 
known here before their last rising. But the other 
colonics awakened the popular attention, and com- 
pelled the city members and several merchants to 
join with the Council, in the recess of the House, to 
co-operate in the necessary remonstrances to the 
Commons of Great Britain for postponing the bill. 

They had not then, as they now asserted, given any 
more than the title of it, and consequently knew 
nothing of the scope of its last two clauses, which 
alarmed all the colonies with apprehensions of a de- 
sign to overturn the liberties of the plantations, by 
compelling our legislators to obey all the orders and 
instructions of the crown. 

One of the first objects, therefore, of their present 
attention, was a report upon these transactions ; 
thanks to the managers of them ; the reimbursement 
of the money sent to Messrs. Samuel and William 



in case the said frontier be at any time invaded by an enemy, the neighbor- 
ing colonies and plantations upon that continent shall make good in men, or 
money in lieu thereof, their quota of assistance, according to the following 
re-partitions — viz. 

Massachusetts Bay, . . _ 350 Men. 
New-Hampshire, - - - - 40 

Khode-Island, .... 48 

Connecticut, - - - - 120 

New- York, £00 

East New-Jersey, ... 60 

West New-Jersey, ... 60 

Pennsylvania, - - . . go 

Maryland, 160 

Virginia, 240 



Making together, - 1,358 
Pursuant whereto, you are, as occasion requires, to call for the same ; and 
in case of any invasion upon the neighboring plantations, you are, upon 
application of tlie respective Governors thereof, to be aiding and assisting 
to them in the best manner you can, and as the condition and safety of your 
government will permit." 



1745.] 



10 



Baker of London, who had been charged with the 
opposition to the bill offered to the Commons, and the 
approbation of the objections urged against its pass- 
ing into a law. 

In this ill humour they presented no address ; and, 
though Mr. Clinton sent them the papers necessary 
for their information concerning the eastern expedi- 
tion, with a copy of the instruction referred to in his 
speech on the I4th of March, they continued for se- 
veral days inattentive to it ; slighted his opinions con- 
cerniiig additional fortifications ; ordered the city 
members to enquire for and consult some engineer ; 
intimated a design to lessen the garrison of Oswego ; 
declined the project of a guard-ship ; rejected that 
for appointing joint commissioners to treat with the 
Indians for mutual defence ; voted but three thou- 
sand! pounds to the New England expedition ; re- 
solved to appoint no agents at present, and declined 
the provision of presents for the Indians. 

Expecting nothing from them in this temper, he 
convened both Houses before him on the 13th May, 
passed three bills sent up to him by the Council, and 
dissolved the Assembly, delivering a speech at the 
same time, in which he not only expresses his own 
resentment with insinuation of the receipt of personal 
incivilities, but endeavours to render them odious to 
their constituents. 

The late sudden dissolution had very little influ- 
ence upon the minds of the community at large, for 
nearly the same members were returned ; but it in- 
fluenced the new House, for, in answer to the Gover- 
nor's speech of the 25th June, they presented an ad- 
dress promising attention and despatch, and testify- 
ing their persuasion, that he had the King's service 
and the welfare of the colony sincerely at heart, and 
promising their assistance in cultivating harmony be- 
tween the several branches of the Legislature, for 
the great ends they all had in view. 

What he had proposed was the erection of several 
batteries in the capital, more forts on the frontiers, 
and aid of ships, men and provisions to the New Eng- 



76 [Chap. II. 

land enterprise upon Louisburgh, which promised 
success by the capture of one of the batteries and a 
ship of 64 c^uns. 

Mr. Jones, Avho had long acquired the reputation 
of an economist, was now placed in the chair. 

They immediately ordered in a bill to give five 
Ihousatid pounds towards the Cape Breton expedi- 
tion, another tor the necessary fortifications, and 
others for finishirjg the Governor's house, presents 
for the Indians who were wavering and had lately 
made a visit to Canada. His design for an immedi- 
ate treaty with them was his apology for convening 
the Assembly. 

They voted six hundred pounds in addition to four 
hundred pounds not yet expended, and he went im- 
mediately to the Indian treaty at Albany. After his 
return in autumn he informed the House, by a njes- 
sage of 2d November, that the French Indians had 
broken the neutrality and made incursions upon New 
England ; that he dreaded an attack upon this colo- 
ny ; that tlie Six Nations agreed to take a part in the 
war, and had his orders for action. They did not 
part before the Governor's prediction was verified in 
the destruction of the scattered village of Saratoga, 
within forty miles from Albany. 

The party of French and Indians, from Crown 
Point, surprised those settlements on the night of the 
16th November, and burnt the fort and several other 
buildings, killed some of the inhabitants and carried 
others into captivity. The country being uncovered 
down to the very city of Albany, this event not only 
spread a general consternation among the northern 
settlers, who all fled from thejr habitations, but raised 
a general dissatisfaction. Mr. Clinton, indeed, was 
unblameable, having frequently endeavoured to ex- 
cite the Assemblies, and so had Mr. Clarke, to erect 
a fortress on the northern frontier ; but the censures 
of the multitude being loud and clamorous, the Go- 
vernor indulged more heat than prudence, and sent 
a message to the House respecting the tragedy at Sa- 
ratoga, and threatened to draw out detachments of 



1745.] 77 

the militia, expressing himself in such sharp re- 
proaches for their inattention to his former requisi- 
tions, as were not soon forgot. At present they sup- 
pressed their resentment, and entered a resolve, that 
they would, at all times, concur in every reasonable 
measure, not only for the defence of the province, 
but the assistance of their neighbours, in any well 
concerted plan consistent with her circumstances, to 
distress and attack the enemy ; adding, that this was 
and ever had been the firm purpose and unanimous 
resolution of the House. 

The session being nearly at an end, they passed 
votes of credit, offering rewards for scalps, the pay- 
ment of scouting parties, the erection of redoubts, 
the transportation of detachments, provisions, and 
ammunition for the Indians. The rejection of Mr. 
Holland, who claimed a seat in the House as mem- 
ber for the township of Schenectady, contributed not 
a little to the acrimony of the Governor's message. 
Though he had a majority of electors, his petition 
was, at first, unreasonably postponed, and himself, at 
last, excluded (1st November) under the pretext of 
his wanting qualifications required by the town char- 
ter ; but, in truth, because he was a resident at New- 
York and a friend to the Governor. Mr. Holland 
lost nothing by this injury, for it procured him the 
mayoralty of the metropolis and a place in the 
Council. 

The bills providing salaries for the year, in which 
they continued the gift of twenty pounds made for 
several years past to Mr. Barclay, the missionary to 
the Mohawks, being passed with several other acts, 
the session terminated on the 29th of November. 

Importuned by Colonel Philip Schuyler of Albany, 
whose brother was massacred in the late descent, 
upon Saratoga, for a detachment of three hundred of 
the militia of the lower counties, and the rebuilding 
of the fort there, and by the Commissioners for In- 
dian affairs on other proposals for the security of the 
frontiers, and stimulated by letters from Doctor Col- 
den and others, who gave alarms of attacks intended 



78 [Chap. II. 

on the western side of Ulster county, as well as by 
the people of Massachusetts, for a confederacy with 
the eastern colonies in a plan of general deience ; 
Mr. Clinton gave the Assembly a recess only till the 
20th of December, and then held up these objects to 
the attention of the House in a message, asking at the 
same time for some efficacious amendments to the 
militia act. and tartly taxing them with the neglect of 
the important particulars laid before them for the 
service and honor of the province. 

They asked leave to adjourn to the 7th of January, 
1746, and before he consented, voted one hundred 
and fifty pounds for rebuilding Oswego. They con- 
curred, at the next meeting, in amending the militia 
act; prepared to fulfil their late engagements; call- 
ed for a confejRence with the Council respecting the 
New England confederacy ; voted the erection of a 
line of block-houses on the frontier, and for rangers 
to defend the western quarter of Ulster and Orange ; 
added to the fortifications in the capital ; resolved on 
a lottery, and a new emission often thousand pounds 
in paper money, to be sunk by a tax.* 

They nevertheless made their advancements with 
disgust, and fell into quarrels with each other, divid- 
ing often upon the partition of the general burden 
among their counties, and at length for several days 
met only to adjourn. The Governor passed the bills 
that were ready for him, and prorogued the House 
for a few days. On re-assembling, the 4th of March, 
the small-pox prevailing at Greenwich, where they 
had lately sat, they requested an adjournment to the 
second Tuesday in April, at some other place. No- 
thing could be more reasonable than a change of the 
place, whatever the objections might be as to the 
time. The answer was this : " Gentlemen, — My pre- 
sent indisposition prevents me from speaking to you 
in public. I most earnestly recommend to you to 



* They would not confer with the Council upon the bill for this emission^ 
considering it as a money bill. Vide Journal, 25f/i February, 1746. 



1746.] 79 

make ample provision, and that with fhe utmost des- 
patch, for all those services I recommended to you 
the last session, and hitherto remain unprovided for." 
Upon which they resolved, that their speaker and five 
members have power to adjourn from day to day, but 
that not less than a majority transact any other busi- 
ness, and upon all questions the names of the mem- 
bers be entered and published in the journals ; and 
then they adjourned to the evening of the next day. 

Mr. Clinton called his Council together in the in- 
terim, and sent a message consenting to their meet- 
ing on the 1 2th instant, at the borough of Westches- 
ter. They met there, and first voted a request to 
meet at Brooklyn on Long-Island, but rescinded it the 
same day, and desired to return to New-York ; and 
remaining inactive for several days, the Governor, 
with the advice of the Council, preferred Brooklyn 
to the capital, where the small-pox prevailed, and 
ordered them to adjourn thither accordingly. 

Sixteen days had now elapsed to no other purpose 
than incurring the ridicule of the wits, and sharpen- 
ing spirits before sufficiently disquieted; and as soon 
as the House met at Brooklyn, on the 20th of March, 
they appointed a committee to answer a representa- 
tion, which the Council had presented to the Gover- 
nor, on the late refusal of the House to confer with 
them on the bill to emit ten thousand pounds of pa- 
per money. 

The Governor now opened their business by a mes- 
sage, demanding provision for constructing six new 
block-houses on the northern frontier ; the punctual 
payment of their militia garrisons, and twenty-five 
men to be posted in two others at Schenectady ; no- 
tified them that the Six Nations had refused to act in 
the war; urged an alliance with the New England 
colonies, to lessen the expense of repurchasing the 
aid of the six cantons ; insisted upon more money to 
strengthen the hands of the commissioners, pro re 
nata ; demanded a further aid of provisions for the 
Oswego garrison ; a quota of men to garrison Louis- 
burgh, till others arrived from England ; and, to in- 



80 [Chap. II. 

gradate himsell'with the people without doors, con- 
cluded with declaring, that " the enemy cannot be 
more industrious for the ruin of the colony, than he 
could be careful to preserve it in the quiet possession 
of his Majesty's subjects." 

After this, they called a conference with the Coun- 
cil for nominating commissioners to treat with the 
other colonies, and agreed to recommend to the Go- 
vernor, Messrs. Philip Livingston, Horsmanden, and 
Murray, of the Upper House, and Mr. Verplanck and 
Mr. Nicoll, of the Lower House. They desired the 
Governor to inform them whether he had any objec- 
tion to the emission of paper money : but to this he 
gave the proper answer, that " when the bill came to 
him, he would declare his opinion." 

They proceeded then to votes for the services that 
were recommended, and increased the emission bill 
to thirteen thousand pounds, and projected a lottery. 

To lessen the expense, they proposed to the Coun- 
cil a joint address to the Governor, for his posting at 
Schenectady sixty men of the independent compa- 
nies in the pay of the crown: and about the same 
time, Mr. Clinton stimulated them again for their 
quota to maintain the garrison at Louisburgh, where 
an attack was expected ; and for an allowance to 
Captain Armstrong, an engineer, sent over at his in- 
stance by the crown, to plan the intended fortifica- 
tions. The first of these they immediately refused, 
assigning for their excuse, the exposed and weak 
state of the colony. 

On the 3d of May, he gave them a recess for a 
month ; and then passing the lottery bill, to raise 
three thousand three hundred and seventy-five 
pounds, for fortifying the city of New-York ; another 
for the like purposes in other parts of the colony ; a 
third for a military watch in the county of Albany; 
another authorizing commissioners to take affidavits 
in the country to be used in the Supreme Court ; and 
that for issuing thirteen thousand pounds in bills of 
credit, to be sunk by a three year's tax ; the annual 



1746.] 81 

levies of which, here subjoined, show the compara- 
tive opulence of the counties at that time : 

New-York, - - - L. 1,444 8 11 

Albany, - - - - 622 3 9i 

Kings, - - - - 254 18 Oi 

Queens, - - - - 487 9 5i 

Suffolk, - - - - 433 6 8 

Richmond, - - - - 131 6 3i 

Westchester, - - - 240 14 8^ 

Ulster, - - - - 393 18 9i 

Orange, - - - - 144 8 10^ 

Dutchess, - - - - 180 11 H 



jL. 4,331 10 8 

To guard the reader unacquainted with the pett}' 
cabals of a distant colony, and who may be deluded 
by the seeming precision of these quotas, it is proper 
to add, that the members for the metropolis always 
complain of the intrigues of the country gentlemen, 
in loading their city with a third part of the public 
burdens for the ease of their own counties ; and that 
but for the fear of losing their bills in the Council, 
which is generally composed of citizens of influence, 
a still greater share would fall upon that small island 
forming the city and county of New-York. 

In the recess, Mr. Clinton found it necessary to 
add three hundred of the militia to the one hundred 
and twenty in the block-houses, and those thirty post- 
ed at Saratoga. This occasioned fresh demands upon 
the Assembly, to which they readily complied, with 
an augmentation of one hundred and fifty more, be- 
sides fifty Indians : and three dajfs after the first mes- 
sage, the Governor informed them of the designation 
of this aid by another brought to Brooklyn, by Mr. 
Banyar, Deputy Clerk of the Council; and the same 
day opened a new and extensive scene in a speech, 
acquainting them that the Duke of Newcastle, in a 
letter of the 9th of April, had signified his Majesty's 
pleasure to set forward an expedition against Canada, 
commanding levies in all the colonies for that pur- 
pose ; that every company should consist of one hun- 

U 



82 [Chap. 11. 

dred men, to be raised from New-York to Virginia, 
inclusive, in one corps, under Mr. Goocli, the Gover- 
nor of Virginia, as Brigadier General, and the whole 
force to be as great as could be collected before the 
time of their march. 

The project was Mr. Shirley's : it was communi- 
cated in a letter of the 13th of January, and approv- 
ed by our Assembly on the 'i.'ith of February. They 
"Were to be joined by regular troops from England. 

This intelligence was received with the greatest 
exultation by the general mass of the people. The 
Assembly therefore expressed themselves that very 
day with all the ardor of patriotic zeal. " The mo- 
ment we leave your Excellency," said they, " we 
shall employ our hearts and our hands to the great 
work before us, and come to such resolutions as shall 
immediately forward the important design ; and the 
whole course of our proceedings shall be conducted 
Avith such unanimity and effectual despatch, as may 
add to the pleasing hopes of a happy success, and 
prove us fully sensible of our duty, loyalty, and gra- 
titude to his Majesty, our regard to the ease, Avelfarc, 
and security of those we represent, and of that just 
resentment that should animate us in opposing the 
perfidy and cruelty of the most dangerous enemy." 

Bounties were raised for volunteers, and for the 
purchase of provisions and ammunition; exportations 
of provisions prevented ; the Indians called to a 
meeting ; the other colonies excited to join in col- 
lecting presents to conciliate their aid ; artificers im- 
pressed for public works ; part of the militia detach- 
ed ; a forty thousand pound tax imposed, to sink as 
much, immediately supplied by a new emission of 
paper money; thanks given to the King for forward- 
ing an enterprise so necessary to us, and for advan- 
cing the trade of the empire in general. 

They hesitated about nothing necessary to give it 
success, except furnishing provisions for the Indians, 
unless the neighboring colonies would bear a part of 
the expenses ; and any contribution for the trans- 
portation of stores, for which they refused even to 



174G.] '^ 83 

advance money to tlie Crown even upon loan, con- 
ceiving that it ought to be raised by bills of exchange, 
a hint which Mr. Clinton improved greatly to his own 
emolument. They separated on the 15th of July, 
and the Governor, in a few days after, went to the In- 
dian treaty at Albany. 

He could prevail upon none of the Council to at- 
tend him, except Doctor Colden, Mr. Livingston, and 
Mr. Rutherford. From Mr. Delancey, by whom his 
measures had formerly been directed, he was to ex- 
pect no aid. They had quarrelled in their cups, and 
set each other at defiance. The Governor then gave 
his confidence to Mr. Colden. The Chief Justice, in- 
flated by his popular influence — the rise of Sir Peter 
Warren, his brother-in-law, and the patronage of Dr. 
Herring, formerly his tutor and now his correspon- 
dent, in the elevated station of Archbishop of Can- 
terbury — and, by Mr. Clinton's incaution, rendered 
independent by a renewal of his commission during 
good behaviour, in other words, for life — had begun, 
in the course of last winter, to domineer over the 
Governor, who, on a certain occasion, expressed with 
some tartness his resolution to maintain the dignity 
of his station. The altercations ran so high, that 
Mr. Delancey left the table with an oath of revenge, 
and they became thenceforth irreconcileable foes. 

The Governor left no stone unturned to procure a 
numerous assembly of the Indians. The interpreter 
had exerted himself for that purpose among the more 
distant tribes, while Mr. Johnson,* at his request, 

* This gentlemen owed liis elevation from the obscurity of a solitary re- 
sidence in the wilderness to the incidents of this period. • lie was a ne- 
phew to Captain, afterwards Sir Peter Warren, and until his ambition was 
fanned by the party fends between Clinton and Delancey, aspired no higher 
than to the life of a genteel farmer in the vicinity of fort Hunter, sur- 
rounded by the Mohawks. When Colonel Philip Schuyler (who as the son 
of the celebrated Peter) held the affection of the Six JNations, he indis- 
creetly attached himself to Delancey. A door was then opened to Mr. 
Johnson, who became a favourite of Clinton's, and improved his advan- 
tages, as the sequel will show, to the acquisition of honour and power, and 
such a vast estate of the crown lands as cannot fail to sup[)ort the heredi- 
tary dignity of an English Baronet, to which he arrived in the course of a 
few years, in consequence of his celebrated victory over. Baron DieskaU 
and the French troops at Lake George in i755. 



8i * [Chap. II. 

practised upon the Mohawks in his neighbourhood. 
The day the Governor arrived, he was presented with 
two French scalps, taken near Crown Point; and on 
the 8th August Mr. Johnson, to whom Mr. Chnton had 
given the rank of Colonel, entered the town at the 
head of the Mohawks, painted and dressed in their 
manner. The Governor being indisposed at the 
opening of the conference, it was left to Mr. Colden 
to deliver a speech of his own drafting ; and in his 
excuse for the absence of Mr. Clinton, he describes 
himself to the Indians as the next person in the adminis- 
tration^ for Lieutenant Governor Clarke having gone 
to England, he was then the eldest member of the 
Council. He reminded them of the antiquity of the 
covenant chain, and that one intent of the present in- 
terview was to confirm it. He informed them of the 
French attack upon Annapolis Royal, of the reduc- 
tion of Louisburgh in resentment for that injury, of 
the subsequent incursions of the enemy, and of their 
promises of assistance ; rebuked their inactivity ; re- 
vealed the design to attack Canada, on this side by 
troops from this and the western colonies, while those 
to the eastward, with the navy, ascended the St. 
Law rence. For exciting the savages to co-operate 
with us, and raise and spread their fame among all 
the Indian nations, he calls to their remembrance the 
ancient insults their fathers had received from the 
French at Onondaga, Cadaracqui, and in the Seneca 
country. He applauds the prowess of their ances- 
tors in the invasion of Montreal, inveighs against 
their listening to the seducing wiles of the French 
priests, and then requests their joining with us in 
the grand enterprise of driving all the French out of 
the country as essential to their and our safety. 

These addresses were,after the Indian manner,divi- 
dedinto short paragraphs, and belts of wampums given 
for memorials. A Sachem, on the delivery of every 
belt, turning to each tribe uttered the word, "yo-hay,'' 
do you hear. They answered, and when the war-belt 
was given, there was a general shout. 



n46.J 8 J 

Mr. Clinton appeared the next day, and an Onon- 
daga orator replied for all the nations. 

They promised to hold fast the ancient silver chain; 
engaged from the bottom of their hearts to make use 
of the hatchet against the French and their children, 
(meaning their Indian allies) ; threw down a war- 
belt as a testimony of their union, and recommended 
unanimity among all the colonies. They denied that 
the French priests lulled them asleep, declared their 
abhorrence of them, and that the remembrance of 
the cruelties of the French made their blood boil. 
They gave assurance, that they would send in their 
warriors, with some from the Missisagacs, a nation of 
five castles and eight hundred men between the Lakes 
Erie and Huron, who were represented by their de- 
legates then present. 

The presents from the Crown, Virginia, and Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, were afterwards distributed. 

The Governor left it to the Six Nations to give a 
share to the Missisagacs ; intimated his discovery, 
that certain of their warriors, being in Canada when 
the tidings of the reduction of Louisburgh arrived, 
had joined the French for the defence of Quebec. 
He promised arms, clothing, and ammunition, to such 
as would now go out in the British service. 

After they had delivered the presents, they hung 
on the war-kettle, painted themselves as in their 
wars, and danced till late at night. They perform- 
ed this singly, in a slow motion, to a plaintive tune. 

One of the Missisagacs's deputies died at Albany 
of the small-pox ; and, towards the last stage of his 
disease, requested the Governor, that the first French 
scalp taken in the war might be sent to his mother, 
and this promised, he, without reluctance, resigned 
himself to death. 

Mr. CHnton, about the same time, convened and 
spoke to the Mohendars, under which name are com- 
prehended all the other savages near this part of the 
sea coast, and on the banks of the rivers Hudson, 
Connecticut, Delaware, and the Susquehana; to 
these also, -a set of dastardly tribes, he gave pre- 



86 [Chap. II. 

sents for promises uhicli they never meant to per- 
I'orm. 

There were, soon after this congress, such insinua- 
tions of the scantiness of the Governor's gifts, whe- 
ther true or false cannot be determined, that he 
thought it requisite, in vindication of his character, to 
pubhsh an account of the treaty and transactions. It 
was written by Mr. Golden; but, though it evinces 
the propriety of the speeches to draw the Indians 
into the war, it contained no list of the articles ac- 
tually distributed among the savages, and wanting 
this proof, the scandal was rather confirmed than re- 
futed by that incautious publication. 

Meeting his Assembly again in October, the Go- 
vernor, now guided by Mr. Golden, set the public 
wheels in motion in an unusual manner. Being in- 
disposed, he sent for the Speaker, and, through him, 
laid a copy of his speech before the House. They 
pronounced this mode irregular and unprecedented ; 
but to prevent delay, went into the consideration of 
the business recommended. 

The speech complains of the difficulty he had to 
engage the savages to go out into this war ; ascribes 
the ill temper of the Indians to neglect or misconduct 
in the management of their affairs, and the inefficacy 
of the design, to Mr. Gooch's declining the service, 
the non-arrival of the fleet, and the news of the Brest 
squadron's hovering on the coast of Nova Scotia with 
many land forces. Having given orders for a winter 
camp in the north, and the erection of more small 
forts, the Governor demanded further supplies for 
those purposes, as well as the management of Indian 
affairs. He reprobates all parsimony as real prodi- 
gality at this juncture. His persuasions to harmony 
excited to discord. He hinted that distrusts were 
often aggravated by artful designing men ; and in- 
sisted that every branch of the Legislature should 
act within its own limits, according to the model of 
the British constitution, adding, at the close, " that 
when unhappy differences have arisen in our mother 
country, from an imprudent or wanton stretch of 



174iS.] 87 

power in any one of the parts of government, a cure 
has been attempted by throwing an over-measure of 
that power into some other part, by which the ba- 
lance between the several parts of government has 
been destroyed. The cure became worse than the 
disease, whereby confusion and calamity always en- 
sued, till the balance was again restored. I am. told 
that something of the like nature has more than once 
happened in this government. Let us, then, guard 
against such mischiefs ; and let us resolve to show, 
by our actions as well as by our words, that we un- 
derstand and love the English constitution, and there- 
by convince each other of the sincerity of our inten- 
tions for the good of our country ; and then, I make 
no doubt, all of us shall enjoy the pleasures which 
necessarily arise from the good effects of such a re- 
solution." 

The Assembly voted six thousand five hundred 
pounds for victualling the troops in their winter quar- 
ters, and two hundred more to transport the provi- 
sions to Albany, but would not provide, in future, for 
the militia detachments of May and June. 

The Governor, to whom the address was present- 
ed, took the hint, that they did not mean to pay for 
the land-carriage from Albany ; and, therefore, in- 
sisted that this expense should be provided for. The 
volunteers amounted to thirteen hundred and eighty 
men. He said there were one hundred and eighty 
men without their bounty money, and requested blan- 
kets both for them and part of the King's indepen- 
dent companies, who were to join the little army on 
the northern frontier. 

The flame soon broke out. The Assembly turned 
their attention to the civil list ; for the year voted 
only the deficient bounty money, and ordered a re- 
presentation to be drawn up in answer to the Gover- 
nor's speech and message, and a bill to be brought 
in to raise two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds 
by lottery, towards erecting a College.* 



'■■' 2Sd October 1746. 



68 [CJhap. 11.. 

On Wednesday, the 2'Uh of October, they ad- 
journed, without leave, to Friday, then to Monday, 
and the day after received, approved, engrossed, and 
sent to the Governor a representation reported by 
Colonel Fhilipse, Colonel Morris, Colonel Schuyler, 
Mr. David Clarkson, and Mr. Henry Cruger. 

It is to be observed, that while this instrument was 
preparing, advice arrived from Albany, that Henry 
Holland, the Sheriff of that county, by order of Col. 
Roberts,* had broke into the Commissioners' store- 
houses, and taken out the provisions entrusted to their 
care for the use of the army. 

The representation of the Assembly, after de- 
claring their ignorance of the bad disposition of 
the Indians and the authors of it, sullenly observed, 
that they last year provided for his voyage to a trea- 
ty with them, and that he and those he employed can 
best tell what service it had answered. 

They professed their willingness to inquire into the 
neglect or misconduct of the Indian affairs, and for 
that end, they asked for the correspondence upon 
this subject between him and others since his ar- 
rival. 

They disapproved of his winter camp, intimating 
their apprehensions that deaths and desertions, 
through the severity of the weather, would frustrate 
the King's design of any expedition to Canada the 
next year. 

They boasted of further contributions to it than the 
King expected, and then alleged that they are at a 
loss to discover the meaning of his dissuading from 
parsimony, a term not so much as once mentioned in 
their House. 

They are surprised at his opinion, that the Legis- 
lature are not in perfect harmony. They are apprised 



* An oflFiccr of one of the independent companies, now raised by Mr. 
Clinton to the rank of Colonel in the intended expedition. He bad been 
a Cornet of horse at the accession of George the first, and was connected, 
by his first marriage, to the Earl of Halifax. His second wife was a daugh- 
ter of that Mr. Harisoii who had so deep a share in the feuds of Cosby and 
■^'an Dam. 



174G.] 89 

of the necessity ot" it ; think themselves capable of 
guarding against the private views of artful and de- 
signing men, and would be sorry any such should pre- 
vail on him to disturu the harmony necessary to the 
general preservation ; that if any persuasion excited 
his distrust of the Legislature at this juncture, they 
affirm that they are not friends to the country, but men 
of sinister views. 

They confessed that differences have formerly hap- 
pened, but they were tliought to arise rather from 
bad advice to Governors than wantonness in the peo- 
ple, and ought to serve as land-marks to avoid the 
like evils. They affirm, that upon the communication 
of the Duke of Newcastle's letter they provided for 
victualling the troops, and gave eight pounds bounty 
with a blanket to each volunteer, ind never intended 
their Commissioners should deliver out the subsis- 
tence at Albany ; that the circumstances of the co- 
lony (of which they were the most competent judges) 
would not admit of any further step, and beyond this 
they meant not to go. 

The Governor who, when Mr. Gooch declined his 
appointment, acted in his stead in the direction of 
the troops intended for Canada, had, before he left 
Albany, ordered the Commissioners to deliver out 
provisions to the four independent companies, des- 
tined with others to the carrying place above Sara- 
toga on the route to the French Tort at Crown Point. 
Colonel Roberts had the command to require an 
unlimited quantity of provisions for the whole 
party, and to surmount the refusal of the Commis- 
sioners, gave an order on Mr. Holland to impress pro- 
visions for fourteen hundred men for two months. It 
has been before observed, that a law was passed au- 
thorizing the impress of artificers ; it extended to 
horses, waggons, and other things necessary for the 
success of the expedition, and Mr. Clinton had left a 
warrant with Holland, the sheriff, for carrying it into 
execution. Provisions had been demanded for one 
hundred and thirty men more than were in service, 

12 



90 , [Chap. II. 

and three companies had ah-eady drawn out their 
quota. 

The House considered the Governor, therefore, as 
in the scheme of forcing the transportation, the ex- 
pense of which they had refused to defray, and the 
rather hecause Doctor Golden, when at Albany, had 
insisted upon it, menacing the Commissioners if they 
did not comply. 

Hence the clamors in the country, the prognostica- 
tions in the Governor's message, and the severities of 
the representation, though it was four days afterwards 
that the House resolved, that the Governor was ill 
advised in granting the warrant for the subsistence of 
the King's independent fusileers ; that the Commis- 
sioners obeyed the law in refusing to comply with it ; 
that Colonel Robert's order was arbitrary and ille- 
gal ; that the breaking open the stores was a viola- 
tion of the rights and liberties of the subject ; and 
that Coldeh, Roberts, and Holland, were guilty of 
high crimes and misdemeanors ; and that it would be 
in vain to furnish provisions for subsisting the forces 
in the expedition against Canada, until assurances 
were given that an effectual stop should be put to 
such proceedings; and an order was made for re- 
questing the Governor's command to the Attorney 
General to prosecute the delinquents. 

Mr. Clinton's message of tK--^ 10th of November, 
in answer to the representatioQ ^f the fifth, contribu- 
ted nothing to the extinguishment of these discon- 
tents. Displeased with the Commissioners of Indian 
affairs, he charges the untowardness of the savages 
upon them, as traders with them ; promises to give 
orders to the Secretary for that business to prepare 
copies of the correspondence ; expresses high disap- 
probation at the public testimony of their dissatisfac- 
tion with his winter camp, as countenancing a con- 
tempt of orders, and the printing it without waiting 
for his answer ; and threatens to complain to the 
King of the difficulties he had passed through in the 
last six months ; and with respect to the resolves of 
the 8th he observes, in another message of the 24th, 



1746.] 91 

for the vindication of his own measures and to wipe 
off aspersions upon others, that the troops at Albany, 
by concert between himself, Mr. Shirley, and Mr. 
Warren, were destined against Canada ; that he add- 
ed to them a part of the independent companies ; 
that the new levies, who they had agreed to supply 
with provisions, were at first sixteen hundred men, 
exclusive of commission officers ; that these, by de- 
sertions and disease, were reduced to fourteen hun- 
dred, including the officers ; that he could not ima- 
gine it disagreeable to them that he supplied the de- 
fect of two hundred out of the independent compa- 
nies ; that when he issued the orders to march, he 
sent Major Clarke to the Commissioners with assur- 
ances that, if the Assembly disapproved of the sup- 
plies, he w^ould replace the quantum ; that the form 
of the warrants they complained of are settled in 
Council ; that he authorized Doctor Colden's request 
to the Commissioners for transporting and delivering 
out the provisions to the Captains, and on their ob- 
jecting, to engage payment for the expense of the 
carriage, and that if they refused this, to intimate 
his intention to appoint other Commissioners ; that 
Mr. Colden reported their consent, and Mr. Cuyler, 
one of them, confirmed it. 

He then refers them to the minutes of a council of 
war, held at Albany by Colonel Roberts, Colonel 
Marshal, Major Clarke, and Major Rutherford, on the 
16th October, at which Colonel Roberts presided, 
showing that, after Mr. Clinton left Albany, Mr. Cuy- 
ler refused to transport the provisions, assigning the 
want of money as his reason, or to appoint a Com- 
missary to deliver them out, if they were transported 
by the army; nor would he deliver them at Albany 
to any Commissioner or Quarter-master, though Col. 
Roberts promised to be accountable and to produce 
the Captains' receipts, insisting, that the letter of 
the act required the Commissioners to deliver them 
only to the Captains. 

That the council then considering, that the Cap- 
tains could not find separate store-houses on the 



92 [Chap. II. 

frontiers, nor could their services in scouting parties 
enable them to preserve the provisions IVom waste, 
he advised Col. Roberts to impress their provisions, 
give a receipt for them, appoint a Commissary to be 
recommended by the Commissioners to issue them 
out ; and that such conduct was, in their opinion, not 
inconsistent with the intent of the act of Assembly, 
and that, without it, the expedition for guarding the 
fiontiers would be neglected. 

The Governor added, that he thought himself in 
the line of his duty in ordering the march ; the coun- 
cil right in their advice from the great law of neces- 
sity, and that neither Roberts or Holland were to 
blame ; that he could not, therefore, give any orders 
for prosecuting them. 

He promised to assist in the discovery of embezzle- 
ments, if any there had been, and for obtaining jus- 
tice to be done to the colony, and that the provisions 
impressed should be accounted for. He urged them 
to change the Commissioners for others less inclined 
to embarrass the service, obliquely impeaches them 
tor deficiencies of rum ; and, after censuring their 
freedoms with persons in his and D(3ctor Colden's 
stations, remarks, that their resolves deserve their 
most serious consideration. 

The House resolved this answer unsatisfactory ; 
that whoever advised or endeavoured to create jeal- 
ousies and encourage a breach of the laws were ene- 
mies to the constitution ; that they would grant no 
more supplies while such notorious abuses were com- 
mitted ; but that upon proper assurances of redress, 
they would grant further aids for the subsistence of 
the troops. 

The Governor alarmed, asked for the sustenance 
of the troops, agreeable to their engagements, pro- 
mising that what had been experienced should not 
happen again, and that exact accounts of the con- 
sumption should be kept and laid before them; and 
to divert their altcntion from the last object, made 
new requisitions to pay for female scalps; smiths 
among the Senecas and Onondagas ; arrearages for 



1746.] 93 

provisions at Oswego, and the repairs of the fort at 
Albany. But, unwilling to prolong the session, they 
postponed these considerations, and were prorogued 
on the (ith of December, when thirteen acts received 
the Governor's assent. Care was taken to prevent 
desertions from the army, to raise the taxes, to main- 
tain a military watch in Albany, to keep up the mili- 
tia, provide winter subsistence for the troops, sup- 
port the civil list for a year, and raise two thousand 
two hundred and fifty pounds by lottery for founding 
a College, a project early in the eye of the patrons 
of the public school, formerly trusted to the care of 
Mr. Malcolm, favored by the pupils of that institution 
now rising to manhood, and forced by a general spi- 
rit of emulation on discovering the sundry advantages 
our youth had acquired by an academical education 
in Great Britain and Ireland, but chiefly at the neigh- 
bouring Colleges of New England. 

The author observed in the first records of the 
colony of New Haven (vulgarly called the Blue- 
laws*), that this was an object of the very first ad- 



* A note ought not to be suppressed respectiog these records, to correct 
a voice of misplaced ridicule. Few there are who speak of the blue-lav>'S 
(a title of the origin of which, the author was ignorant) who do not imagine 
they form a code of rules for future conduct, drawn up by an enthusiastic, 
precise set of religionists ; and if the inventions of wits, humorists, and 
buffoons were to be credited, they must consist of many large volumes. 
The author had the curiosity to resort to them, when the Commissaries 
met at New Haven for adjusting a partition line between New-York and 
the Massachusetts in 1767, and a parchment-covered book of demy royal 
paper was handed him for the laws asked for, as the only volume in the of- 
fice passing under this odd title. It contains the memorials of the first es- 
tablishment of the colony, which consisted of persons who had wandered 
beyond the limits of the old charter of the Massachusetts Bay, and who, as 
yet unauthorized by the Crown to set up any civil government in due form 
of law, resolved to conduct themselves by the Bible. As a necessary con- 
sequence, the Judges they chose took up an aiithority similar to that which, 
every religious man exercises over his own children and domestics. Hence 
their attention to the morals of the people in instances with which the civil 
magistrate can never intermeddle, under a regular well-policied constitu- 
tion — because, to preserve liberty, they are cognizable only by parental 
authority. The Select Man, under the blue-laws, found it his duty to pu- 
nish every contravention to the decorum enjoined by the broad command- 
ments of Heaven. The good men and good wives of the new society were 
admonished and fined for liberties daily corrected, but never made criminal 
by the laws of large and well-poised communities ; and so far is (he com- 



94 ' [Chap. 11. 

venturers in that country, long before their charter, 
uniting that and the Hartford colony, was obtained. 
The inhabitants of New Haven (to whose honor be 
it mentioned) raised a large sum to begin the institu- 
tion within five or six years from the date of their In- 
dian purchase of that town, then called Quinipiack. 
It was from this seminary that many of the western 
churches in New- York and New-Jersey were after- 
wards furnished with their English Clergymen. Mr. 
Smith who was a tutor and declined the Rector's 
chair of Yale College, vacant by the removal of Dr. 
Cutler, was the first lay character of it, belonging to 
the colony of New-York. Their numbers multiplied 
some years afterwards, and especially when, at his 
instance, Mr. Philip Livingston, the second proprie- 
tor of the manor of that name, encouraged that 
academy by sending several of his sons to it for their 
education. 

To the disgrace of our first planters, who beyond 
comparison surpassed their eastern neighbours in 
opulence, Mr. Delancey, a graduate of the University 
of Cambridge, and Mr. Smith, were, for many years, 
the only academics in this province, except such as 
were in holy orders ; and so late as the period we 
are now examining, the author did not recollect above 
thirteen more, the youngest of whom had his bache- 
lor's degree at the age of seventeen, but two months 
before the passing of the above law, the first towards 
erecting a College in this colony, though at the dis- 
tance of above one hundred and twenty years after 



mon idea of the blue-laws being a collection of rules from being true, that 
they are only records of convictions, consonant, in the judgment of the 
magistrates, to the word of God and dictates of reason. The prophet, 
priest, and king, of this infant colony, was that Davenport who was in such 
consideration as to be sent for to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, 
in settling the religion of the English and Scotch nations. These remarks 
were, by the author, communicated to Mr. Hutchinson of Boston, then one 
of the Commissaries, and to other gentlemen of eminence in the colony 
and of the very town of New Haven, who licard them as novelties, 
nor would the former adopt them, till he had recourse, the next day, 
<o the records themselves. The author .'^pcaks onlv of those at New 
Hav^en. 



1746-47.] 95 

its discovery and the settlement of the capital by 
Dutch progenitors from Amsterdam.* 

The Assembly being convened again in the spring 
of the next year, Mr. Clinton, in his speech of the 
25th of March, observed, that the late provision for 
the levies extended only to the 1st of May; that he 
had secured the Six Nations without any charge to the 
colony, and had hopes of drawing some of the re- 
mote savages into an alliance, and for this purpose 
he required supphes to be distributed in presents; 
that agreeable to a concert with Mr. Shirley, two 
forts were intended to be erected at the portage on 
the route to Crown Point, to favor the expedition to 
Canada, for which the King's orders were daily ex- 
pected ; that no money being sent from England, 
and the Council of this colony and the Commis- 
sioners from the Massachusetts having proposed to 
prosecute the expedition at the immediate expense 
of the colonies, in certain rates there stated, he im- 
portuned them for their concurrence and proportion ; 
and by a message he also desired a provision for 
scouting parties, to be kept up while the army went 
forward on the main design. 

Bent upon renewing the hostilities of the last ses- 



* The persons alluded to, were — 
STessrs. Peter Vaa Brugh Livingston, Messrs. William Peartree Smitb, 
John Livingston, Caleb Smith, 

Philip Livingston, Benjamin Woolsej', 

William Livingston, William Smith, Jun. 

William Nicoll, John McEvers, 

Benjamin Nicoll, John Van Home. 

Hendrick Hansen, 
These being then in the morning of life, there was no academic but Mr. 
Delancey on the bench, or in either of the three branches of the Legisla- 
ture ; and Mr. Smith was the only one at the bar. Commerce engrossed 
the attention of the principal families, and their sons were usnaJly sent from 
the writing school to the counting-house, and thence to the West India 
islands — a practice introduced by the persecuted refugees from France, 
who brought money, arts, and manners, and figured as the chief men in it, 
— almost the only merchants in it from the commencement of this century 
until the distinction between them and others was lost by death and the 
inter-communion of their posterity by marriage with the children of the 
first Dutch stock jind the new emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland. 
The French Church of New-York contained, before their divisions in 
17S4, nearly all the French merchants of the capital. 



96 [Chap. II. 

sion, they did not vote any address, and resolving not 
to recede from the declaration that they would not 
transport the provisions from Albany, they agreed to 
victual their levies for three months, and pay for one 
hundred scouts, and only to pay one hundred and fifty 
pounds for the expenses of his journey to the intend- 
ed Indian convention. 

The enemy were, at that time, ravaging the fron- 
tiers and practising most merciless acts of cruelty. 
The House to make a handle of a pathetic petition 
presented to them, and for embarrassing and calum- 
niating the Governor, asked one hundred men out of 
the little army destined to Canada for scouring the 
woods, offering every private a shilling per day be- 
yond the pay of the Crown, and introducing it with 
a recital, that the levies were victualled at a very 
great expense, and had been hitherto unemployed ; 
and to raise the popular outcry the higher, they be- 
sought him to pass the bill providing for the hundred 
rangers to which the Council had consented eight 
days before, intimating that they would then do no- 
thing more, and desiring a recess. 

The Governor thought himself compelled, for his 
vindication, to inform them, that when last at Albany 
he could not engage a man to range the woods un- 
der the wages of three shillings per day, with provi- 
sions besides ; that their offer of one shilling was, 
therefore, no motive for their acting in that service, 
and if they agreed to it, the House had made no pro- 
vision for their officers ; that he had engaged the Six 
Nations at tlie sole expense of the Crown, who also 
bore all the other charges of the army except provi- 
sions ; that parties of Indians and the new levies had 
been employed in divers excursions ; that when the 
expedition to Canada was laid aside for the year, he 
ordered a camp to be fortified at the carrying place, 
that from thence they might intercept parties from 
Crown Point, and by collecting magazines there, for- 
ward the intended services of the present year against 
Canada ; that this design was obstructed by the late 
obstacles respecting the issuing provisions, till the 



1747.] 97 

frost compelled tiiem to winter at Saratoga ; that lie 
had posted a part of the army in the Mohawks' coun- 
try, others at and beyond Schenectady, three compa- 
nies at Schaghticoke, four at Half Moon, two at Nis- 
kyuna, and others at Albany, leaving a force at Sara- 
toga — "so that there were garrisons in aline from 
east to west, across the northern frontier, in every 
place where they could be placed in safety during 
the winter season ;" that there were other places 
where forts ought to have been erected, but that he 
could not put that charge upon the Crown, they them- 
selves not thinking them necessary for their own safe- 
ty ; that to keep the enemy at home, he had sent out 
parties of the Mohawks against their borders ; that 
his project of a fort at the carrying place was ap- 
proved of by Mr. Shirley, and some of the neighbor- 
ing colonies were willing to contribute to it, if the 
Assembly of this colony would set the example, and 
when he urged their concurrence he had avoided all 
ground for fresh controversy. 

He proceeds then to complain of their declining 
every necessary expense for the common security, 
and of their disrespectful behaviour which obliged 
him, as he says, " from that common justice which 
every man owes to himself, to speak out some things 
which otherwise I should have thought proper to con- 
ceal." 

That the principal traders and richest men in Al- 
bany do not wish well to an expedition against Ca- 
nada, from an attachment to a trade with that coun- 
try, engrossed by a few, and which he had effectually 
obstructed.* 

To this he ascribes his difficulties with the Indians, 
and a message from the Governor of Canada per- 
suading the savages to a neutrality, and promising 



* The keenness of this insinuation will escape the reader's attention, un- 
less he recollects the representation drawn up by Mr. Colden and others, 
in Governor Burnet's administration, against a petition promoted by Mr. 
Delancey's father, who derived great advantages by the Indian trade 
through Lake Champlain, and was, therefore, in opposition to the nevr 
trading house at Oswego. 

13 



98 [Chap. 11. 

from his pi(y of their brethren at Albany to turn his 
Indians on their most inveterate enemies of New 
England. 

lie then reminds them, that before the late negro 
plot information was given of Popish emissaries, and 
that he suspects them among us, working upon men of 
Avrong heads, violent passions, and desperate for- 
tunes, as had been the case in the late Scotch re- 
bellion. 

He shows the danger of false insinuations to raise 
jealousies among the people of their rulers and Go- 
vernors ; asks, with what truth it can be said the new 
levies have been hithertouncmplo}'ed,and suggestions 
publiclyhintedof his neglect of duty.'^ and promises an 
answer to their request for a recess, when he knows 
their resolution to take care of the colony. 

They formed themselves into a committee of the 
whole House, and agreed upon another representa- 
tion. To give them time to cool, he adjourned them 
from the 2d to the l9th of May, but with what suc- 
cess the reader will determine, after he reads the 
following abstract of the long answer of seven folio 
pages and a half in print, then reported by a commit- 
tee consisting of Messrs. David Clarkson, Cornelius 
Van Home, Paul Richard, Henry Cruger, Frederick 
Philipse, John Thomas, Lewis Morris, David Pierson, 
and William Nicoll. It was read, engrossed, and pre- 
sented the same afternoon, with a request for leave 
to adjourn. 

They disown any intention to offend by the request 
for employing the new levies for rangers, to which 
they were excited by information that tliey were wil- 
ling to serve Avith an allowance beyond the King's 
pay of nine-ponce or one shilling per day; by as- 
serting that they were unemployed, was only meant 
that they were not then on the expedition to Canada, 
and that they might have been on short scouts with- 
out any injury to the service; that they were well 
apprised of the importance of the Indian alliance; 
that, therefore, they had put one thousand pounds in 
his hands in 1745 for presents, though he had then 



1747.] 99 

money, before voted for that purpose ; that those In- 
dians had, as yet, done nothing agreeable to their as- 
surances of their engaging in the war if further de- 
predations were made. 

That they consider the King's order to make pre- 
sents as an intimation that the charge ought not to 
fall on the colony ; that he went to Albany last sum- 
mer at their expense, but what he gave the Indians 
they know not ; that the Crown Avas also, doubtless, 
at other great charges, which turned out to the pri- 
vate interest of some individuals. 

They think their loyalty very manifest since his ar- 
rival, and suppose him well convinced of it ; he spoke 
well of the people in his first speech, but the change 
of his opinion obliged them to remind him that they 
gave him one thousand pounds as an earnest of their 
respect for him ; have raised as much for his support 
as for any of his predecessors, and built a noble edifice 
for his residence on his own plan ; had paid his house- 
rent while the house was constructing. 

They recollect the burning of Saratoga, Novem- 
ber 1745, and hint, that if the independent compa- 
nies had not been drawn from that post, this destruc- 
tion would not have happened. 

That money was given for a fort at the carrying- 
place according to his own design, which was never- 
theless applied to re-building that at Saratoga ; that 
they contributed a part of the militia to garrison it ; 
that then a line of block-houses was recommended 
from New England to the Mohawks' castle ; they had 
provided for this scheme, and the money laid out in 
detachments of the militia posted by his order on the 
frontiers. They declared their willingness to contri- 
bute to two forts at the carrying-place, and seem to 
doubt his declaration that any other colonies will 
bear a part of this burden. They declare, that no- 
body acquainted with the climate could be surprised 
at the disappointment of the attempt to fortify a camp 
at the time he fixed upon for that work. They assert, 
that the money raised for the expedition is nearly ex- 
pended by the nine pounds bounty per man. the vie- 



J 00 [Chap. ir. 

tualling of sixteen companies, one hundred men each, 
and other mihtary purposes. These they think proofs 
of their care for themselves, and do not forget their 
gift for the Cape Breton expedition, with the further 
expense of transporting ten cannon, their carriages, 
&c. 

They conceived that their advancements have 
been unskilfully laid out, for want of an engineer, and 
lament the delay of the person expected. 

Respecting the scheme of commissioners for a joint 
prosecution of the war with the other colonies, they 
mention their having provided for it, and add, "how 
it has happened that nothing has been done upon 
that connnission, is only to be conjectured." They 
censure the late negotiations at Albany, towards 
erecting two forts at the carrying-place and attack- 
ing Crown Point, with the assistance of only three of 
the Council, while there were six gentlemen in com- 
mission for that purpose, and no other government 
had commissioners there but Massachusetts Bay. 

They declared that they had not confidence in the 
success of the expedition, and chose to wait till expe- 
rienced officers, daily expected, arrived from Eng- 
land. They confessed, that ever since he had placed 
liis confidence in a person obnoxious to and censured 
by that House, the public affairs had been perplexed, 
and not attended to with that steadiness and good 
conduct which their importance required, and did 
appear in the measures pursued before he bore so 
great a part in his councils. 

To him they imputed certain late speeches and 
messages, and the interruption of the public harmony ; 
denied that the traders of Albany wished ill to the 
Canada expedition, and charged the insinuation to 
the inveterate prejudices of his minister, who had 
grossly calumniated the distressed inhabitants of Al- 
bany, and abused his confidence. 

That part of his message descriptive of the prac- 
tices of Popish emissaries, they applied to another 
person then in his favor,* who was bred a Protestant, 

■■" John Henrj' Lidius, whose father was a Dutch Minister at Albany, 



1747.] 101 

resided several years in Canada, married a woman 
there of the Romish Church, after having first abjur- 
ed his rehgion, alleging that he was a person of des- 
perate fortunes. To his intrigues and falsehoods 
they imputed the unfavorable temper of the Indians, 
and to Popish emissaries the perplexities of his ad- 
ministration. 

They then assert it to be reported, that two-thirds 
of the Indian presents in 1745 were embezzled; and 
that the French and Spanish prisoners were sold, 
under color of his authority, to owners and captains 
of flags of truce, at a pistole a head ; and these things 
they affect to mention as with a design to give him 
an opportunity to punish the delinquents. 

They hoped that, from the whole they have evin- 
ced, they have had a due care not only of their own, 
but his honor and interest. 

Mr. Clinton commanded an adjournment for a few 
days, and contented himself only wifli a threat of 
complaining to the King, and a remark, which every 
body else had made without doors, that this violent 
and acrimonious composition was not two hours be- 
fore the House ; so that the engrossed copy sent to 
the Governor, must have been prepared before the 
draft was brought in by the committee. 

It has been before observed, that this petty army, 
raised upon the Duke of Newcastle's letter of the 9th 
of April, 1746, was to be paid by the crown. Hitherto 
Mr. Clinton had drawn bills to raise money for that 
purpose ; and whether because the design seemed 
to be neglected at home, and he really apprehended 
the non-payment of his bills, or sought an occasion to 
embarrass the Assembly, he gave them intimations 
that the troops threatened to disband for want of pay ; 
and he exacted their indemnity of his estate against 
the protest of his bills, or their providing money to 
keep the army together. 

The projector of this device certainly could not 
reasonably hope to draw any other advantage from 
it, than a demonstration to government that Mr. Clin- 
ton's drafts, which already amounted to nine thousand 



102 [Chap. U. 

pounds, and i'or which he had the advice of his Coun- 
cil, were absolutely necessary ; and that end it did 
serve, and that only ; for the House absolutely refus- 
ed to counter-secure him, declaring that his drafts 
were necessary to prevent the total desertion of the 
levies, and that his refusal to continue drawing would 
imply distrust of the King, and render himself an- 
swerable for the levies and estates of his subjects. 

From the 4 th of June, they only met and adjourned 
to the 4th day of August, when he called upon them 
to join with Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut in 
the attack of Crown Point, aided by as many Indians, 
of whose temper he spoke favorably as to their being 
animated to action. 

But they laid hold of the objections, that as no 
estimate was found of the whole expense, nor the 
quotas of the respective colonies ascertained, they re- 
fused to concur till these preliminaries were settled. 

Mr. Clintorf continued his drafts for the army, till 
the languor of administration exhausted his hopes of 
any co-operation from that side of the water; and on 
the 3 1st of August, when he flatly refused any longer 
to victual the four independent companies and south- 
ern levies, or to expend money upon the Indians, or 
transport provisions to Saratoga, he urged them to 
take those expenses upon themselves, for two months, 
till when he hoped to draw the other colonies into 
some contribution, and to be better informed of his 
Majesty's intentions He also notified them that Os- 
wego was in danger; Colonel Johnson, the contractor 
for the supply of that garrison, requiring guards to 
convoy the provisions, a late incursion of the enemy 
upon the German Flats in that route having doubled 
the expense of transportation. 

On which the House resolved, that the provisions 
of the independent companies ought not to be a 
charge either to the crown or the colony, while post- 
ed at Albany, they having always subsisted them- 
selves out of their own pay, except when at Oswego 
or the outposts; when there, were and should be 
supplied by the colony : that the southern colonies 



1747.] 103 

ought to subsist their own forces; that having the 
King's orders to make advancement to cultivate the 
friendship of the Indians, it is his duty to continue 
them till the contrary be signified by the crown ; that 
his bills for transporting provisions to Saratoga being 
paid, that expense ought to be forborne ; that Colo- 
nel Johnson cannot ask an additional allowance, the 
Governor having importuned them on the 2d of De- 
cember, 1746, that the Colonel had contracted 
against all events ; but to protect the county of Al- 
bany, they agreed to provide for one hundred and 
fifty rangers, to be formed in three companies, and 
kept up for fifty days. 

The prospect of the desertion of the fort of Sara- 
toga by the New-Jersey troops posted there, for want 
of provisions, however filled every man with terror ; 
and after a call of the House, they requested the Go- 
vernor either to send a part of the New-York levies 
there, or, if his powers over them were determined, a 
detachment from the independent fusileers, for whom 
they in that case promised supplies of provisions. 

He repeated his declarations, that he would no 
longer disburse money at the charge of the crown; 
and they, their instances for the preservation of Sa- 
ratoga. Holding up the consequence of their refusal 
to secure the Indian interest and guard the frontiers, 
the Governor adds, " If you deny me the necessary 
supplies, all my endeavors must become ineffectual 
and fruitless : I must wash my own hands, and leave 
at your doors the blood of the innocent people that 
may be shed by a cruel and merciless enemy." 

On the 17th of September they were adjourned to 
the 22d ; only two bills being then passed, there was 
another adjournment to the 29th, and again to the 
5th of October. These provoked to a resolve, that 
to him were to be ascribed the delays in providing 
for the defence of the frontier ; and that a remon- 
strance be presented on the condition of the colony, 
to be prepared by Messrs. Clarkson, Van Home, 
Richard, Cruger, Philipse, Thomas, Jones, and Cor- 
nel. Before the draft w^as reported, the Governor, 



104 [Chap. II. 

by a message ot the 6th of October, laid before them 
a compact of their own commissioners with others 
from Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut. 

These gentlemen had so concerted matters, as to 
cast the burden of maintaining the Indian alHance 
entirely upon the crown, though Mr. Clinton had im- 
portuned them to make that and the erection of forts 
subjects of contract. The message, therefore, warns 
them of the necessity of an immediate attention to 
these objects, as well as those for which the contract- 
ing colonies were to provide ; and to show them the 
expectations of the Indians, he communicated a copy 
of the conferences he held with some of their chiefs 
on the 26th of September last, with Colonel Johnson's 
report to a committee of the Council on the 3d of 
October. 

This \vas soon followed with resolves to execute 
their part of the plan concerted by the commission- 
ers ; to provide for the defence of the northern fron- 
tier, and for presents for the Indian sachems then in 
town ; that eight hundred pounds be devoted to sup- 
ply the Governor's failure to support the Indian in- 
terest, though he had made large drafts for that pur- 
pose, and of which they had heard of no disposition ; 
that the usual provision be made for Oswego ; that 
they would bear their proportion of the expense to- 
wards erecting forts in the Indian cantons, as asylums 
to their wives and children, while their warriors were 
abroad ; that they will take a part of the army for the 
security of the frontiers into pay, as soon as they are 
advised of their being discharged by the crown ; that 
they would victual the garrison of Saratoga, and 
transport the provisions wanted there ; and the mes- 
senger sent with a copy of these resolves, was also to 
request information whether any, and what number 
of, troops was ordered to. Saratoga. 

The answer of that day was so extraordinary, that 
the author cannot help transcribing it. 

" By your votes, I understand you are going upon 
things very foreign to what 1 recommended to you. 
I will receive nothing from you at this critical junc- 



1747.] 105 

ture, but what relates to the message I last sent you ; 
viz. by all means immediately to take the preserva- 
tion of your frontiers and the fidelity of the Indians 
into consideration. The loss of a day may have fatal 
consequences. When that is over, you may have 
time to go upon any other matters." 

They then resolved it to be their undoubted right 
to proceed in such order as they conceived most 
conducive to the interest of their constituents ; that 
the attempt to prescribe to them, was a manifest 
breach of the rights and privileges of that House and 
of the people ; that the Governor's declaration was 
irregular, unprecedented, and manifestly tended to 
the subversion of their rights, liberties, and privi- 
leges ; and that his adviser had attempted to under- 
mine and infringe them, violate the liberties of the 
people, subvert the constitution of the colony, and 
was an enemy to its inhabitants. 

The next day, 9th of October, Mr. Clarkson brought 
in the remonstrance, to which the House, immediate- 
ly after reading it, ordered their speaker to set his 
name. They sent to the Governor that morning by 
seven members,* who reported that he would neither 
hear it read, nor suffer it to be left with him. 

While they were in suspense upon the next step to 
be taken, he sent them a message on the 13lh of Oc- 
tober. 

That he was pleased with their approbation of the 
scheme concerted by the commissioners of the three 
colonies, so nearly agreeing with that he had planned 
in October last, with Governor Shirley and Commo- 
dore Warren. 

That he was also pleased that his Council, before 
the commissioners met, had approved of his proposal 
concerning the erection of two forts at the carrying- 
place, and had made it an instruction to their com- 
missioners to effect it at the charge of the colonies. 



* Mr. Clarkson, Colonel Philipse, Mr. Thonaas, Mr. Cruder, Colonel 
Beekraan, Colonel Chambers, and Colonel Lott. 

U 



106 [Ghap. II. 

He observes, in an air of triumph, that when he had 
before urged these things, they were to have been 
executed at the expense of the crown ; and that now 
they became a colony charge, through the obstruc- 
tions he had met with by their clogs on the transpor- 
tation of provisions to the army. 

He then proceeds to refute the insinuation, that 
the money raised by his drafts for Indian expenses 
was not expended ; recounts the Indian services ; 
alleges that last year he could not get twenty of them 
on a scout, but that now Colonel Johnson could col- 
lect a thousand of them for service ; that this gentle- 
man had detached many of them from the French ; 
that their object in the denial of money for these ser- 
vices, was to wrest the prerogative of making treaties 
from the crown, and to place it in the hands of popu- 
lar agents of their own appointing. He accuses them 
also with a design to share in the military authority 
of the Executive ; declares he will not consent to it ; 
avers that Saratoga was burnt, and afterwards aban- 
doned, by their negligence of his requisitions. He 
then attempts to justify his message to confine them 
to what he had recommended for the care and pre- 
servation of the colony ; calls their late votes to shut 
their door, a farce, unless it was designed to exclude 
his messages ; and if so, in that case he pronounced 
it a high insult on the King's authority, and the with- 
drawing their allegiance for a time. 

He denied their authority to act as an Assembly, 
except by virtue of the royal commission and instruc- 
tions, alterable at the King's pleasure. After which 
he thus expressed himself: " You seem to place it 
upon the same foundation with the House of Com- 
mons of Great Britain, and if I mistake not, by the 
resolves of the 9th of this month, assume all the pri- 
vileges and rights of the House of Commons of Great 
Britain. If so, you assume a right to be a branch of 
the legislature of the kingdom, and deny your depen- 
dence and subjection on the crown and parliament. 
If you have not the rights of the House of Commons 
of Great Britain, then the giver of the authority by 



1747.] 107 

which you act, has or can put bounds or limitations 
upon your rights and privileges, and aUer them at 
pleasure, and has a power to restrain you when you 
endeavor to transgress. And I must now tell you, that 
I have his Majesty's express commands not to suffer 
you to bring some matters into your House, or to de- 
bate upon them ; and for that reason, the custom has 
been long established of the Clerk of your House to 
show every day to the Governor, the minutes of the 
proceedings of your House : and it is undutiful beha- 
viour to keep any thing secret from me, that is under 
your consideration. In short, gentlemen, I must like- 
wise tell you, that every branch of the legislature of 
this province, and all of them together, may be crimi- 
nal in the eye of the law ; and there is a power able 
to punish you, and that will punish you, if you pro- 
voke that power to do it by your misbehaviour; 
otherwise you must think yourselves independent of 
the crown of Great Britain." 

He then complained of the late method of serving 
him, by members, with copies of their resolutions, as 
ill-mannerly and unconstitutional; and then adds — 
" This leads me to consider a most indiscreet beha- 
viour of some of the members of your House, who, in 
a quarter of an hour after I was served with a copy 
of your resolves of the 9th instant, came into an 
apartment of my house, where I was busy, and, with- 
out the least previous notice, one of them offered to 
read a large bundle of papers, which, he said, was a 
remonstrance from the House. Does not every pri- 
vate man in this country think his own house his cas- 
tle .'* And must your Governor, when in his private 
apartment, be thus intruded upon ? Would any pri- 
vate man bear such behaviour in a stranger; and 
must your Governor bear it with patience ? I think, 
therefore, from such behaviour, without any other, I 
had too much reason to refuse to receive it, or to 
suffer it to be left with me : and from some past re- 
presentations which have been openly made by your 
House, I never will hereafter receive any thing llrom 
your House in public, the contents of which are not 



lOi] [Chap. II. 

previously communicated to me in private, that I may 
judge whether it be necessary for his Majesty's ser- 
vice and the pubhc good, to give access to me for 
that purpose." 

He charged their omission to acquaint him of their 
first meeting, to design ; their resolves against his 
late adjournments and prorogations, as encroach- 
ments upon the prerogative ; — taxes them with un- 
reasonable precipitation in adopting drafts of repre- 
sentations, as marks of their being led by a spirit of 
faction ; with an attempt to defame him, and with 
asserting known falsehoods. 

To oppose the malignant imputation of his embez- 
zlement of the Indian presents, he states all his re- 
ceipts at but eighteen hundred pounds currency; 
and urges to show the reduction of it before the goods 
were delivered, the necessary expenditures for main- 
taining such vast numbers at Albany, private gifts to 
particular sachems, a sum to the Senecas for a re- 
lease of their claim to Oswego, the transportation of 
the Indians in waggons from and to Schenectady, and 
provisions for their return. 

He insisted that, if they had any suspicions of waste, 
they ought to have asked information, or complained 
to the King. 

He denied that they were moved by any zeal for 
their country in this attack ; remarks that, though they 
have put sixty thousand pounds into the hands of 
their relations and friends, no accounts are as yet 
exacted. 

He ascribed their attacks on his friends and assist- 
ants to malice; and declares that he will withdraw the 
independent fusileers from Albany, unless they will 
supply them with provisions as they do others ; de- 
sires them to reflect whether their conduct is not 
owing either to a firm principle of disloyalty for de- 
livering up the country to the King's enemies, or to 
support a neutrality with Canada, as in Queen Anne's 
rejgn, to the prejudice of the other colonies, or to 
overturn the constitution; or, lastly, to gratify the 



1747.] 109 

malice of a few, known to have a share in their pri- 
vate consultations. 

He concluded with renewing his demands for se- 
curing the frontiers and the fidelity of the Indians ; 
and, to prevent delays, informs them that he will not 
assent to any bill for issuing the public money, but as 
his commission and instructions direct, or to limit or 
clog the prerogative respecting the disposition of the 
troops. " If you make any thing," says he, "contrary 
to his Majesty's commission or instructions, a condi- 
tion of your granting the necessary supplies for the 
safety of the people of this province, I now tell you, 
that it will be trifling with the lives and estates of 
your constituents, by exposing them, in this time of 
danger, without policy, for I never will yield to it." 

It was agreed by the commissioners, that gun- 
smiths should be sent to each of the six cantons, ex- 
cept the Mohawks and Tuscaroras, with goods to the 
value of three hundred pounds, for presents ; and, as 
the season advanced, the Assembly signified (15th 
October) to the Governor their willingness to ad- 
vance the money on the credit of the confederate 
colonies, that he might forward this service before 
winter. But he put them in mind the next day of 
other provisions equally urgent, especially as he in- 
formed them on the 1 9th, that the King had laid aside 
the expedition against Canada, and ordered the 
troops to be discharged, except such as were neces- 
sary for the defence of Nova Scotia ; and that, by his 
Majesty's command, he was to recommend it to them 
to pay their own levies, and trust to a parliamentary 
reimbursement. 

The privates had heen paid up by the Governor 
to the 24th of July last, and two months' pay given 
to the subalterns. 

He renewed his desire for taking them, or a part 
of them, into the service of three colonies ; and they 
immediately voted to pay half of their levies, or eight 
hundred men, to the first of August, leaving it to the 
rest of the colonies to act at their pleasure : but they 
declined the discharge of the arrears, assigning their 



J 10 [Chap. IT. 

poverty and distresses tor their disappointment of the 
rojal expectations. 

On the 24th of October, the Governor thought pro- 
per, by a written order under his hand, to forbid 
James Parker, who usually printed the journals of 
the House, to publish the Assembly's remonstrance, 
which provoked Mr. Clarkson to relate, and the rest 
of the committee to confirm, the history of what pass- 
ed at the offer of it to the Governor, That they 
knocked at the outward door, and told the servant 
who attended, that they had a message. That after 
retiring to an inner room, he came out, followed by a 
gentleman, and showed them into it, where they found 
the Governor, who expressed no displeasure. They 
informed him that they came aa a committee of the 
Assembly vtith a remonstrance, and Mr. Clarkson 
offered to read it, which the Governor would not per- 
mit, nor suffer it to be left ; on which they decently 
withdrew, Mr. Clinton only intimating, that this pro- 
ceeding without the speaker was not parliamentary. 
Upon this, Parker was ordered to attend, and having 
produced the Governor's prohibition, a copy of which 
he had published in his Gazette, they resolved that 
the attempt to prevent the publication of their pro- 
ceedings, was a violation of the rights and liberties 
of the people, and an infringement of their privileges ; 
that the remonstrance was a regular proceeding; 
that the Governor's order was unwarrantable, arbi- 
trary, and illegal, a violation of their privileges, and 
of the liberty of the press, and tending to the utter 
subversion of all the rights and liberties of the co- 
lony ; and that the speaker's order for printing the 
remonstrance was regular, and consistent with his 
duty. 

That th-:; reader may form his own judgment of it, 
we here gve him a succinct analysis of its principal 
parts. 

It professes their design to open to him the state 
of the colony. 

They conceive that his late messages reflect upon 
their conduct : and that his prorogation of the 29th 



1747.] Ill 

of September and adjournment of the 5th of Octo- 
ber, were designed to prevent their vindication of 
themselves. Bewailing the alteration of temper and 
sentiments in the several branches of the Legislature, 
thej proceed to its causes. 

Their proceedings discover that there was perfect 
harmony on the 6th June 1746, when the King's plea- 
sure for an expedition to Canada was announced — all 
conspired with one heart to promote the service, and 
his speeches and messages were clear, express, and 
intelligible ; but ever since he had put his confidence 
in the person who styles himself, " the next in ad- 
ministration," arts have been used to distract and 
divide. 

They esteemed his falling into the hands of a man 
so obnoxious, aiming at nothing but his own interest, 
a great misfortune to the country. 

To prove their suggestions, they proceed to a his- 
tory of their late intercourse. 

On the 9th and 1 1th of September they had impor- 
tuned him to keep up a garrison at Saratoga, and 
agreed not only to supply but transport provisions to it. 
On the 16th, they voted for the preservation of Oswe- 
go, and to consider, (though he had taken all risks 
upon himself) of Colonel Johnson's demands for sub- 
sistence, if by unforeseen accidents he was likely to 
suffer. 

To the Governor's assertion, that they were ac- 
quainted with the temper of the Indians before his 
treaty of last year, they answer with a denial of any 
such knowledge, on account of the secresy he had 
affected respecting Indian affairs, whii^h he had di- 
verted from their ancient channel by taking the bu- 
siness out of the hands of the Commissioners, and to 
this they assign their present perplexity and dis- 
traction. 

They admit the reluctance of the Indians to en- 
gage in the war; and for removing aspersions observe, 
that the Coghnawagas, in Canada, are related to the 
Six Nations ; that they were, therefore, inclined to a 
neutrahty, and the rather as they had declared, be- 



112 [Chap. II. 

cause their wars end only in extirpation ; and they 
avow the opinion, that such a neutrality would have 
been most advantageous to the public. 

Against his boasting of their utility, they deny that 
there has been any conflict between ours and the 
French Indians, or that they had brought in more 
than three French scalps and some prisoners; and 
impute his magnifying the late treaties, to a design to 
countenance his drafts on the crown for Indian pre- 
sents, some of which drafts they suggest as being 
made the last summer, when no gifts were made, and 
that therefore he had a considerable sum in bank on 
that score. 

They dispute his professions of zeal for the wel- 
fare of the country ; charge the blood spilled at Sa- 
ratoga in 1745, to his withdrawing the garrison from 
that post; blame him for not ordering the new levies 
at Albany, to go up and assist the farmers in the vi- 
cinity of that village to gather in their harvest ; call- 
ing in the troops from the frontiers to Albany, and 
then posting them on the opposite side of the river, 
where they could more easily desert ; for not send- 
ing out the one hundred and fifty rangers they had 
raised ; for injustice and unfairness in his agents, re- 
specting the musters of the army, " a matter," as they 
assert, " worthy of the most strict inquiry.'* 

They then charge him with contemptuous speeches, 
both of them and their constituents, "from a very 
early time of his administration, in terms so opprobri- 
ous as are not fit to be pubHshed ;" and, to vindicate 
themselves from the charge of neglecting the general 
interest of the colonies, they recite his requisitions, 
their compliances, and his obstacles to their further 
designs, by adjournments and prorogations. 

In the close, they aver that, since the war, the co- 
lony had expended near seventy thousand pounds ; 
and, as a caution against the advice of managing an 
Assembly by harassing them with adjournments, they 
declare, " that no inconveniences will divert them 
from, or induce them to abandon, the interests of 
their country." 



1747.] 113 

Mr. Clinton alarmed the House by a message, re- 
quiring supplies for detachments he purposed to 
make from the militia, for the defence of the frontiers. 
As nothing could be more disgusting to the multitude 
than a call to services of that kind, the House dread- 
ed their rage, and the committee to whom the mes- 
sage was referred, reported their surprise at this 
requisition; and, considering the intimation of the 
King's orders to discharge the army, and their late 
vote to take eight hundred men into pay, for the de- 
fence of the frontiers, declared their opinion, that 
whilst his Excellency was governed by such unsteady 
councils, his messages were continually varying and 
ambiguously penned, and that they were embarrass- 
ed with difficulties in providing for the public safety. 

The Governor, says the entry of the day, in the 
copy brought by their Clerk, (for they did not, on 
this *occasion, pursue their late practice of sending 
it by their members,) and by another message of 
the 2d of November, reproaches them with refus- 
ing to give the King credit for the army's arrears of 
pay, till provision could be made by Parliament ; and 
though they had voted to take eight hundred men of 
these levies into service, yet have you not, says he, 
by your speaker, communicated to me as terms of 
that vote, that there be a reduction of one half of the 
pay of the officers; which no man deserving trust 
will accept, it being below the earnings of tradesmen 
and the wages of laborers. Will any man be retained 
but on the footino; on w hich he was enlisted ? Havino- 
no hope of engaging men upon these terms, he saw 
no way of saving the country without the aid of the 
militia; and charged their affijctation of surprise to 
a desire of exciting the disobedience of the militia. 
<^' And for what other purpose," says he, " are the re- 
flections of unsteady councils, continually varying, 
&c. thrown out at this time ? Certainly councils must 
vary, as the events on which they are founded do. 
You only have given occasion to any variation in my 
councils ■' 

15 



114 [Chap IT, 

fn the reply, they confess that he had proposed to 
retain both o/Ticers and privates in the 13ritish pay : 
that on the speaker's objecting as to the officers, the 
Governor then expressed doubts of their success, 
but promised that he would do all he could for the 
service of the colony, when he had fixed, with Mr. 
Shirley and INlr. Knowles, a time for the dismission of 
the army. They therefore repeat their surprise at 
the requisition for supplies to detachments of the mi- 
litia, before the result of his consultations respecting 
the day of general discharge was published; and 
think this a justification of their late answer of insta- 
bility, and a proof " that it was neither his intention 
nor inclination that these forces should be received 
into the pay of the colony, but rather that, through 
want of clothing, and other hardships, they should be 
driven to the necessity of desertion, that the frontiers 
being by that means left defenceless, he miglft be 
furnished with a plausible pretence (in order to ha- 
rass the poor people of this colony, for whom he con- 
tinually expresses so great concern) to make detach- 
ments from the militia for the defence thereof. They 
conclude, that any further expectation of having the 
new levies continued on the frontiers, will be vain ;" 
and immediately voted for raising eight hundred 
other volunteers. They requested him to issue war- 
rants, and to take all the proper measures to expe- 
dite the enlistments, and to pass a bill, then ready, 
for forming a magazine of provisions at Albany. 

The Governor refused to see the messengers, or 
receive a copy of the vote, without the speaker. 

Upon this, they Compelled the printer to publish 
their remonstrance, and deliver ten copies to each 
member; and presented an address in form, implor- 
ing him to pass the bill for provisions, before the win- 
ter rendered it impracticable to transport them to 
Albany. It was now the 13th of November. He gave 
them this answer: 

That he took blame to himself for passing two bills 
of that nature. He had urged the necessity of the 
service in his excuse, and he w^ould venture once 



1747.] 115 

more ; but warned them, in their bill for paying the 
forces, to insert no clauses derogatory to the prero- 
gative, but to guard against misapplications and em- 
bezzlements. He added a demand of provisions for 
the independent companies at Albany, who, for want 
of supplies, were upon the point of deserting. 

On the 25th of November he passed the provision 
bill ; another for a new tax of twenty-eight thousand 
pounds, for the defence of the frontiers, with two 
others of lesser moment; and then delivering his 
mind in a free speech, he dissolved the Assembly. 

We shall neither abstract this, nor a composition 
published in answer to it, under the title of " A Let- 
ter to the Governor," from some of the members, as 
they lead to a repetition of the history of transactions, 
which have perhaps already exhausted the patience 
of the reader. 

They are both in the printed journals of the House, 
and are further specimens of the scribbling talents of 
Doctor Golden and Mr. Horsmanden, the latter hav- 
ing held the pen for the Assembly, or rather for Mr. 
Delancey, for which he was suspended from the 
Gouncil, and removed from that bench and the Re- 
corder's place, and cast upon the private bounty of 
the party by whom he was employed, applauded, and 
ruined : for such was his condition, until he raised 
himself by an advantageous match, and, by forsaking 
his associates, reconciled himself to Mr. Glinton, 
when that Governor broke with the man, whose in- 
discretion and vehemence the Ghief Justice had im- 
proved, to expose both to the general odium of the 
colony. Until his marriage with Mrs. Vesey, Mr. 
Horsmanden was an object of pity ; toasted, indeed, 
as the man who dared to be honest in the worst of 
times, but at a loss for his meals, and, by the impor- 
tunity of his creditors, hourly exposed to the horrors 
of a jail : and hence his irreconcilable enmity to 
Doctor Golden, by whose advice he fell, and to Mr. 
Delancey, whose ambitious politics exposed him to 
the vengeance of that minister. 



116 [Chap. 11. \ 

Mr. Clinton could not hope for any change of mea- 
sures by Ihc late dissolution. He saw Mr. Jones 
again speaker of the House, and all the chief leaders 
of the last came up to the Assembly, on the 12th of 
February, 1748. 

The first object was the execution of the plan 
agreed on by the commissioners, 28th of September 
last, approved by Connecticut, and all but the 
eleventh article, by Massachusetts Bay, with some 
alterations : then he called their attention to the In- 
dian interest, and the employing parties from these 
tribes to scour the woods ; to the civil list not pro- 
vided for last fall ; an augmentation of Colonel John- 
son's allowance for provisions to the garrison of Os- 
wego; repairs'of forts, and supplies of ammunition; 
rewards for scalps ; the maintenance of prisoners ; 
the charges of transporting and victualling the levies 
on the frontiers ; the removal of the cannon from Sa- 
ratoga to Albany ; necessary expresses ; gunsmiths 
in the Indian countries; the rent of his house; com- 
pleting the new mansion in the Fort, stables, and 
other conveniences; and after persuading to har- 
mony, promises his concurrence in all measures con- 
ducive to the King's service and the interests of the 
colony. 

He had a very short address from the House, inti- 
mating their satisfaction in his promises, as ends truly 
Avorthy his pursuit; promising attention and despatch, 
but expressing some discontent with Massachusetts 
Bay, for not ratifying the compact framed by the 
commissioners. 

The Governor informed them of intelligence that 
preparations were making in Canada for an attack on 
the northern parts of this colony; and hoped, as Mas- 
sachusetts had substantially concurred, their altera- 
tions in the compact would be no obstacle to our 
exertions against the enemy. But they immediately 
after voted, that the alterations would in a great mea- 
sure defeat the end proposed, and that they would 
not agree to theoi. 



1748.] 117 

He then communicated a letter from the Duke of 
Newcastle, directing measures for cultivating the In- 
dian fideHty, at the expense of the crown ; and ad- 
vised their improving this juncture for concerting 
some vigorous enterprise, in conjunction with the 
other colonies, against the common enemy. 

On the 19th of March, and when no cross incident 
had as yet intervened, the House adopted the mea- 
sure, so often recommended, of appointing an agent 
in Great Britain. They voted two hundred pounds 
for this purpose, among the other provisions in the 
annual bill for the civil list ; and, to facilitate the de- 
sign, introduced the vote for an agent to apply for 
his Majesty's assistance and to manage our public 
affairs, with the following preamble : " As this colony 
is so situated, that its northern frontiers are a barrier 
and defence to all his Majesty's other colonies to the 
southward on the continent, and lying nearest to the 
enemy, is continually exposed to their incursions and 
ravages ; to prevent which, it has long been, and still 
is, exposed to a very great and insupportable ex- 
pense, in building fortresses and maintaining forces 
for its defence, being at this juncture obliged to keep 
nearly one thousand men in continual pay on its 
northern frontiers, by which means the southern co- 
lonies are in a great measure secured and defended 
from the incursions of the French and Indians irom 
Canada, without contributing any thing towards the 
heavy expense thereby occasioned." 

The real design of this, was to elude the necessity 
of the Governor's concurrence in a legislative ap- 
pointment of the person, and to engross the agent by 
his dependence solely on the pleasure of the House, 
for they meant to make him their own servant against 
the Governor ; and the sequel will show their success. 

Mr. Clinton repeated his instances, on the .30th of 
March, for a united attack upon the enemy, as con- 
ducive to our own safety; the recall of their emissa- 
ries from the Indians, with whom they were intriguing; 
and to encourage the Assembly, engaged at the ex- 
pense of the crown, to keep any fort they might take. 



118 [Chap.IL 

But he could only procure a vote approving the de- 
sign, and promising to pay the expense of commis- 
sioners in meeting to concert a plan ; and a few days 
afterwards the session ended, with apparent harmony, 
several bills having been previously passed, viz. : for 
a military watch ; building block-houses ; the defence 
of the frontiers ; raising eighteen hundred pounds 
more for a college ; and the payment of the salaries 
of the Governor and other officers for a year; to 
which the Assembly had also tacked a reward of one 
hundred and fifty pounds to Mr. Horsmanden, for his 
late controversial labors, under the pretext of draft- 
ing their bills, and other public service. But as it 
might have been, and perhaps was foreseen, the 
House, just before they were called up to witness the 
Governor's assent and subscription, named Robert 
Charles, Esq. for their agent at the Court of Great 
Britain, and authorized their speaker to instruct and 
correspond with him, and at present to direct him to 
oppose the royal confirmation of a late act in New- 
Jersey, respecting the line of partition, conceived to 
be injurious to this province. 

Mr. Charles's appointment gave the highest plea- 
sure to the party who led the opposition against the 
Governor, and not without reason ; Mr. Warren's ac- 
tivity at Louisburgh having procured him not only an 
interest at court and a knighthood, but vast popular 
applause, and excited his hopes of procuring, what 
his wife's relations of the Delancey family ardently 
wished for, his appointment to the government of this 
colony. The Newcastle interest in favor of the pos- 
sessor, had hitherto rendered the colony politics un- 
successful, and there was a necessity for some pointed 
exertions against him by an agent at court, to im- 
prove and give them success. They now had this 
advantage ; and on the very day Mr. Charles was no- 
minated, Mr. Speaker Jones despatched a letter to 
him, which, as it exceeded the authority given him 
by the vote of the House, gives some countenance to 
Mr. Clinton's assertions, which every one knew to be 



1748.] 119 

true, that the late Assembly had been influenced 
from without doors.* 

The Governor and his Assembly came together 
again on the 21st of June, when he informed the 
House, that unless the Indians could be engaged in 
some enterprise, he feared their total defection, and 
pressed the attack on Crown Point. He purposed to 
meet them and distribute presents in July, at the ex- 
pense of the crown ; and proposed an act to prevent 
purchases from the Indians, of arms, ammunition, and 
clothing, and sales of rum to them, without his license. 
He asks money for new fortifications, according to the 
plans of Captain Armstrong, afi engineer sent out to 
direct in that business ; recommends the defence of 
their commerce against privateers then infesting the 
coast ; provision lor maintaining French prisoners, 
and the redemption of our own people, and rewards 
for scalps. 



* The vote was this :— '' mh April, 1748. 

" Ordered, — That the speaker of this House for the time being-, do 
hold and correspond with Robert Charles, Esq. agent for this colony in 
Great Britain ; and that he do from time to time sign and transmit to the 
said agent, sucl» instructions, directions, and representations, as shall b,e 
judged proper to be sent to him for his conduct." 
Mr. Jones's letter is in these words : — 

"JVm-ForAr, 9th April, 1748. 

" Sir, — In consequence of a recommendation of Sir Peter Warren, you 
are appointed agent for this colony, with a salary of two hundred pounds 
per annum. New- York currency, for transacting the public affairs thereof 
in Great Britain. You are to pursue all such instructions as shall from 
time to time be sent you, signed by me, as speaker of the General Assem- 
bly ; in the execution of which instructions, you are always to take the ad- 
vice of Sir Peter Warren, if in England. You are to take all opportuni- 
ties of advising me, er the speaker of the General Assembly of this colony 
for the time being, of all your proceedings on the several matters as shall 
from time to time be given you in charge, and of all other matters which 
may occasionally happen, whereby this colony may be any ways affected. 
You are not only to take such opportunities as offer directly for New-York, 
but to transmit accounts both by way of Boston and Philadelphia, as occa- 
sion may require. You are to keep an account of the expense you may 
be necessarily put to, in your applications for the service of this colony, 
and transmit them to me, or the speaker of the General Assembly for the 
time being, in order for payment. I send you the act wherein you are ap- 
pointed for this colony, passed but this day, so that I cannot yet write to 
you so fully as I expect shortly to do. In the mean time, you arc to observe 
the preceding directions, and those that follow, to wit : You are to endea- 
vor to-obtaia the royal assent to the three following^ acts, to wit: "An act 



120 [Chap. 11. 

Mr. Clinton had, on the 18th of February last, given 
the command of the troops in the pay of the colony, 
for the defence of the frontiers, to Colonel Johnson; 
the same who, living in the Mohawk's country, on the 
route to Oswego, had been contractor for supplying 
the garrison there with provisions, and he took this 
opportunity to ask an allowance for his trouble. 

The House gave a vote of credit for a flag to Ca- 
nada for an exchange of prisoners ; expressed sur- 
prise at his urging the Crown Point expedition, since 
the Massachusetts province would not ratify the 
compact of the commissioners, and had withdraAvn 
their stores from Albany ; agreed to take up the other 
matters recommended in the fall ; and now only sent 
up a bill, which was passed, agreeably to his own re- 
quest in the message. They sat but ten days, and 
without open animosity, though a motion of Colonel 
Beekman's had given an opportunity to revive it. 



for limiting the continuance of General Assemblies, passed in the seven- 
teenth year of his Majesty's reign," not yet approved of by his Majesty ; 
" An act for appointing commissioners to take, examine, and state the pub- 
lic accounts of the colony of New- York, from the year 1713;" and "An 
act for the more effectual cancelling the bills of credit of this colony," the 
last two passed this day. If the reasons on which the said acts were seve- 
rally founded, contained in their respective preambles, are not judged suffi- 
cient to induce an approbation, you are to endeavor to prevent their being 
rejected until you can advise the General Assembly of it, and have their 
further directions. An act having lately, as we are informed, been passed 
in the neighboring colonj;_of New-Jersey, fur settling the boundaries be- 
tween that province and this, which we apprehend may, in its consequen- 
ces, greatly affect the property of many of the inhabitants of this colony, 
and very considerably diminish his Majesty's revenue arising by quit-rents, 
you are to endeavor to prevent its receiving the royal assent, until this co- 
lony can have an opportunity of making their objections, and of being 
heard against the said act." 

It is worth a remark, that Mr. Charles afterwards informed the speaker, 
that the septennial act had not been transmitted to the Board of Trade ; 
and that Mr. Jones, in his answer by his letter of the 2d of June, 1749, 
writes thus: — " Since you cannot find that the act of this colony, for limit- 
ing the continuance of the General Assembly, has ever been transmitted, 
you need give yourself no further concern about it, until you find it receiv- 
ed at the Office of Trade and Plantations." There wanted no motive at 
this time to censure the concealment of that popular law from the eye of 
administration, if it could only be charged upon the Governor: but the 
boldness of the measure is equal to the art of the leaders of the day when 
it passed. It remains a secret who advised to it, and perhaps because botU 
parties shared in the guilt. 



1T18.J 121 

Certain discharged soldiers of a company, com- 
manded by Captain Ross, raised for the Canada 
expedition, had sued, and others intended to bring 
actions against him, for their pay. The Governor 
had written to a county court Judge, and Catherwood 
his Secretary, to the Clerk and Sheriff, against the 
issuing and service of the process. Tlie House, 
agreeably to the motion, appointed a committee to 
make the proper inquiries, and report their opinion. 
But nothing further was done; for the Governor, 
upon sight of the journal, wrote to the speaker, own- 
ing that letters were written touching deserters, and 
only recommending it to the officers of the courts to 
put a stop to the claims of deserters with his Majes- 
ty's arms and clothing, who had thereby forfeited, 
their pay ; and that if this could be construed a vio- 
lation of the laws, it was owing to inadvertency, and 
without any injurious intention, and that he was ready 
to recompense all damage the public had sustained. 
The House referred this letter to a committee of the 
whole, and took no further notice, atJJiat time, of Mr. 
Beekman's information. 

When they met in the autumn, (14th October,) he 
congratulated them on the prospect of peace, and 
complained of inequitable terms proposed by the 
Governor of Canada for a release of prisoners ; and 
asked a five years' support, agreeably to precedent 
in the times of his predecessors, Hunter, Burnet, 
Montgomery, and Cosby ; said he had not started ob- 
jections to the annual provisions on account of the 
war, the advice he then received^ and his desire to give 
content ; but that he now thought it a proper time to 
resist the innovations which had weakened the King's 
government ; that he should consent to their annex- 
ing the salaries to the officers in the act, but not to 
the officer by name. He then urged a discharge of 
two thousand one hundred and thirty-eight pounds, 
withheld from Colonel Johnson, by reason of the de- 
ficiency of the fuiid out of which he was to be satis- 
fied ; provision for arrears to the army, for expresses, 

16 



122 [Chap. 11. 

the exchange of prisoners, and the hnishing the new 
edifice at the Fort. 

This was raking up the old embers, and disagree- 
able to every body but Colden and Delancey. Their 
address intimated a disinclination to continue the 
rangers in pay; that the three independent compa- 
nies at Albany (which ought to consist of a hundred 
men each) would suffice, with the old peace garrison 
at Oswego. 

Their ill success in the Canada cartel, they impute 
to the low characters of the envoys he had sent to 
Mr. Vaudreuil, the Governor of that country. 

They declared that they would not depart from 
the modern method of annual support bills ; adding, 
with Mr. Horsmanden's pen, that " had the salaries 
been annexed to the office, himself (under the un- 
iiappy influence he then was) would have filled the 
office of third Justice of the Supreme Court, with some 
unworthy person in the room of a gentleman of expe- 
rience and learning in the law, whom you removed 
from that station without any color of misconduct, at 
least as we ever heard of, under the sole influence of 
a person of so mean and despicable a character, (as 
the General Assembly has several times heretofore 
occasionally signified to you,) that it is astonishing 
to us that your Excellency should persist in submit- 
ting your conduct to his sole counsel and guidance." 

They told him not only that he was well advised 
Avhen he first assented to the annual support, but that 
" he did it for ample and sufficient reasons, and good 
and valuable considerations, as we have understood, 
in acceding to those terms." 

After a copy was sent to the Governor, he signified 
by a message, that they had shown no regard to de- 
cency, and that he should not receive such an ad- 
dress. 

He then repeated what was most necessary for the 
public service ; says his envoys to Canada were the 
best he could get; and adds, "you are pleased to 
give the characters of some persons that I have had 
better opportunities to know than you can have had : 



1748.] 123, 

however, I believe that by this paper, (the address,) 
some men's characters will be very evident to every 
man who shall read it, and who has the least sense 
of honor." 

On this, they made an entry of the declaration of 
their messengers, who were sent to know when he 
would receive the address in substance, that he said 
he had not seen a copy of it; on which they had 
given it to him without any order of the House so to 
do : and thereupon they resolved, that it is irregular, 
and contrary to the course of parliamentary proceed- 
ings, to send a copy, and that the Governor had no 
right to insist on such a copy ; that it was their right 
to have access to him on public business; that his 
denial of access was a violation of their rights, con- 
trary to his solemn promise to the speaker, tending 
to the destruction of all intercourse, and to the utter 
subversion of the constitution ; and that whoever ad- 
vised it, had endeavored to create dissensions, stop 
the intercourse for public business, and is an enemy 
to the General Assembly of this colony, and of the 
people whom they represent. 

Notwithstanding these violences, the Governor 
passed three bills on the 28th of October : one for 
reviving that to raise eighteen hundred pounds for a 
college by a lottery; another to continue the duty 
act for the suppojrt of government; and a third, for 
the payment of the forces. On the 12th of Novem- 
ber, he sent for them again, and passed three more 
bills, and then, in a speech in answer to their re- 
solves, observed : 

That it was his duty to preserve the King's autho- 
rity ; that they violated the rules of decency, and 
were answerable for the consequences ; that their 
right to access, and his promise to allow it, are con- 
nected, and both to be, when the King's service and 
the public good require it, of which he had a right to 
judge as well as they. 

He then censures their appealing to the people 
instead of the Crown, to whom he had told them he 
should send their paper of address. 



124 [Chap. II. 

He confesses that he passes some of their bills with 
reluctance, and only on account of the public exi- 
gencies; and then put an end to the services of the 
year, by a long prorogation to the Hth of March. 

The poverty and number of the public creditors, 
and the suflferings of the unredeemed captives in 
Canada, called for an earlier meeting of the Assem- 
bly than the 28th of June, a season of all others most 
inconvenient to a Senate of husbandmen, who were 
just then entering into their harvests. The Governor 
had need, therefore, of an apology for postponing the 
session; and his expectations of direction from go- 
Vjcrnment on the modern mode of providing annually 
for the civil list, was the pretext for this delay. The 
speech held up no other object to their attention : 
what he demanded was a revenue, and the payment 
of debts, in a manner conformable to the directions 
of the King's commission and instructions. Having 
at the last session passed the revenue bill, without 
another to supply it, which had not been offered to 
him, he now observed, that there was money in the 
Treasury granted to his Majesty, not a farthing of 
which he could pay out. This lie called an incon- 
sistency, repugnant to the constitution, prejudicial to 
the King's service, and which, he said, must be reme- 
died : and he required an answer in direct and posi- 
tive terms, before they took up any other business, 
whether they would grant a revenue agreeably to 
royal directions, or not. 

With a copy of his speech, he gave them a clause 
of his commission, dated 3d of July, 1741, declaring 
it to be his Majesty's pleasure, that all public monies 
be issued by the CxDvernor's warrant, with the advice 
of the Council, and disposed of for the support of go- 
vernment, and not otherwise ; with copies of the fif- 
teenth and thirty-second instructions of the 10th of 
September, 1741 ; the former requiring, that no law 
for any imposition on wine or other strong liquors, be 
be made to continue for less than one whole year; 
and that all other laws for the supply and support of 
government, be indefinite and without limitation. 



1749.] 125 

except the same be for a temporary service, to expire 
and have their full eflect within the time therein pre- 
fixed ; — and the latter, commanding him not to suffer 
any public money whatsoever to be issued or dispos- 
ed of, otherwise tlian by warrant under his hand, with 
the advice of the Council ; with leave to the Assem- 
bly nevertheless, from time to time to view and ex- 
amine the accounts of money, or value of money, 
disposed of by virtue of laws made by them, which 
he is to signify to them as there should be occasion. 

After seven days, their committee brought in their 
address, which was instantly approved, and the 
speaker ordered to sign the very copy prepared, of 
which mention is here made, to show their unanimity, 
though the Governor thought it, and not without rea- 
son, a proof of the resignation of the members to an 
implicit confidence in their leaders. 

They tell him that his instructions are not new, 
though he insinuates that they are, but more ancient 
than the modern annual provision; that they per- 
ceive no command for a five years' support, nor that, 
if the crown officers are paid, that it makes any dif- 
ference whether the provision be annually, or for a 
given term of years ; that they retain the opinion they 
suggested last autumn, having since received no new 
light, that tlie distresses of the public creditors are 
imputable to his prorogation of the 12th of Novem- 
ber, by which the application bill was lost : they re- 
mind him of their votes for the redemption of the 
captives ; and conclude with asserting, that " the 
faithful representatives of the people can never re- 
cede from the method of an annual support." 

The Governor refused to receive this address, un- 
til he had a copy of it ; and they resolved, as before 
mentioned, that he had no right to insist upon it. 

He, on the other hand, alleged, that the King al- 
ways had copies of addresses before they were pub- 
licly preferred, and that such had been the usage in 
this colony ; and that he claimed a right to know 
their transactions, because he had authority to re- 
strain them to' a due course. Taxing them with heat 



126 [Cliap. II. 

and precipitation, he observed, that they met after 
nine o'clock, when they received and approved the 
address ; and that the messengers were with him for 
fixing a time to present it, before ten the same morning. 
Confessing now that he had seen it in the minutes 
brought by the Clerk, he informed them that they 
might present it immediately. This done, he adjourn- 
ed them from the 7th to the 11th ; and the day after, 
by a message, he observes, upon the difference be- 
tween his conduct and theirs, that after every proro- 
gation, he spoke as though they had never disagreed, 
but that they constantly calumniated his administra- 
tion. He proceeds then to vindicate himself from the 
suggestions, that the non-redemption of the Canada 
captives was his fault ; that he could not find a man 
who would perform any services for them upon the 
credit of their resolves, nor was it to be wondered at, 
since they had not, though urged to it, paid the ex- 
penses of the last flag, contracted on their vote of the 
27th of June, 1748. He complains of their pervert- 
ing his speech, with a view to mislead ; denies that 
his present demand was for a five years' support, but 
that it chiefly referred to the method of issuing pub- 
lic money ; that he knew the sentiments of adminis- 
tration, " and they might have at least guessed at 
them, by the bill lately brought into Parliament, and 
published in this place, for enforcing the King's in- 
structions.* It is an essential part of the English con- 



'■"■ A bill to regulate and restrain paper bills of credit in the colonies, pre- 
vent them from being a tender, and to enforce the King's instructions. It 
was ordered to be brought in the 16th of February, 1749, by Mr. Horatio 
Walpole, Lord Dapplin, Mr. Alderman Baker, and others. It had been 
long in agitation at the Board of Trade, and was nearly on the model of 
one brought into Parliament four years before. Mr. Charles gave early 
notice of it to the speaker, by a letter of the 2d of March, 1749. The 
last four clauses insidiously gave the royal instructions tiie efficacy of laws. 
It was at first liUlc adverted to, and when its tendency was discovered, the 
advocates disowned the intention ascribed to it. When the counsel were 
ready, (1st of May, 1749,) they were directed by the speaker to confine 
themselves to the' first parts of it, in consequence of a declaration made by 
some of its promoters, tliat the other parts would be dropped. The bill, 
after debate, was postponed for further information concerning the state of 
the paper currency in the plantations, and the King applied to for orders 
on that subject. 



1749.] 127 

siitution, that the power ol* granting the money and 
of issuing it, be in different branches of the constitu- 
tion, as the best method to prevent misappHcation ; 
for if those who grant the money, had likewise the 
power of distributing it among their friends and rela- 
tions, under any pretences of public service, there 
can be none to call them to account for misapplica- 
tion." And again : " You have given money to pri- 
vate persons for services not recommended, and for 
services of which 1 to this day remain ignorant ; and 
by mixing of the grants in the same bill wherein you 
provided for the support of government, or other ne- 
cessary services, you put me under the necessity of 
giving my assent to them, or of leaving the govern- 
ment without support. This is so dangerous an in- 
vasion of his Majesty's prerogative, and so injurious 
to the people of this province, that you may assure 
yourselves it will not be suffered to continue." 

He importunes them for satisfaction to Col. John- 
son; and closes with entreating them to consider 
" the great liberties they are indulged with, and what 
may be the consequences, should our mother coun- 
try suspect that you have a design to lessen the pre- 
rogative of the Crown in the plantations. The Ro- 
mans did not allow the same privileges to their colo- 
nies which the other citizens enjoyed ; and you know- 
in what manner the republic of Holland governs her 
colonies. Endeavor, then, to show your great thank- 
fulness for the great privileges you enjoy." 

The House tells him, by another address, that he 
had renewed the differences by the demand of a five 
years' support. They had agreed suddenly to their 
last address, but it is true, and not the less so for be- 
ing spoken in half an hour. They see still no reason 
w hy the captives were not released : their waiting 
for accounts, was the cause of their delay in provid- 
ing for the expenses of the late flag, and the satisfac- 
tion of Colonel Johnson's demands. 

To his boast, that he had neither invaded liberty 
or property, they reply with a wish, that the breach 
upon the stores at Albany, the letters to the Judge, 



128 [Chap. 11. 

Sheriff, and Clerk of Dutchess, and his attempts upon 
the liberty of the press, were buried in oblivion. 
They submit to the judgment of the world, whether 
the object of his last speech is not an indefinite sup- 
port. They insist that many services are provided 
for by Parliament, not recommended by the Crown ; 
that for every provision they make, the act mentions 
the service j that it is himself that endeavors to mis- 
lead the people. They admit it to be the usage of 
Parliament to raise sums for uses, and leave the dis- 
position to the King : but there is a difference be- 
tween Kings and Governors — the case of a people 
under the royal eye, and those at a distance. The 
King can have no interest disunited from his sub- 
jects, and his officers are amenable to justice in 
Great Britain: but Governors are generally stran- 
gers, and without estates, in the places they govern ; 
seldom regard the welfare of the people : uncertain 
in their stay and offices, all engines are contrived to 
raise estates ; and they can never want pretexts for 
misapplication, if they had the disposition of money. 
Nor can there be any redress ; the representatives 
cannot call them to account — they cannot suspend 
the Council: the Lords of Trade have thought it 
reasonable to oblige the Assembly, as much as pos- 
sible, with the disposition of public money; they will 
not believe the King has other sentiments. 

The Governor refused this address, but proposed 
to throw the services not recommended by him into 
a separate bill ; and sent them a copy of his twelfth 
instruction, importing, that for different matters dis- 
tinct laws be enacted, but nothing foreign from the 
title inserted, and that there be no implicative re- 
peals. 

The House, (lamed again, renewed their resolves 
on the right of access, and the enmity of his adviser ; 
refused to proceed, until they were satisfied for the 
injury their address received; and that they would 
then provide for the public creditors, whose disap- 
pointments they impute to his prorogation of the 
r2th of November. 



1749.] 129 

To these which they sent him, he returned tiis for- 
mer answer, that the address wanted respect, and he 
should lay it before the King's Ministers ; and re-im- 
plored their commiseration of the public creditors. 
This message they voted not only unsatisfactory, but 
a breach of their privileges ; and did nothing after it 
but meet and adjourn, from the 21st of July to the 
4th of August; when, after delivering a long, heated, 
vindicatory speech, he prorogued the Assembly. 

Mr. Clinton began to discern, that the heated coun- 
cils of Mr. Golden on the one hand, and of Chief Jus- 
tice Delancey on the other, might endanger his recall 
to England, or the appointment of a new Governor. 

He now became intimate with Mr. Chief Justice 
Morris, who was meditating a voyage to England, (o 
give success to the project of the general proprietors 
of New-Jersey, for establishing the line of partition 
between that colony and this. 

I have already observed that Mr. Charles, though 
agent, was directed in April 1748, to oppose the 
royal confirmation of the Jersey act for running the 
line. Mr. Morris, who was named in a commission 
with Mr. Alexander and Mr. Parker, had produced 
the commission and a copy of the act to our Assem- 
bly, on the 28th of June following, and desired, if 
there were objections to it, that they might be com- 
municated to the Commissioners, or to the govern- 
ment of New-Jersey. On the 20th of October, there 
was a petition from certain persons affected by the 
New-Jersey claims, to be heard against the new act. 
They were heard the 28th of October; and the next 
day the House resolved, that their objections were 
strong and well grounded, and the petitioners order- 
ed to prepare written proofs to support them, to be 
communicated to Mr. Charles ; and a motion of Col. 
Morris's, for charging the proprietors with the ex- 
penses of the controversy, rejected on the previous 
question. 

It was expedient to the Governor that the King's 
ministers should be made acquainted with the true 
springs of the opposition to Mr. Clinton, and his con- 

17 



130 [Chap. II. : 

duct defended by suggestions not easily, nor perhaps i 
safely, to be communicated upon paper. I 

Mr. Morris's voyage furnished the Governor with a i 
solicitor of no mean art and address, and he under- [ 
took the oifice with the more cheerfulness from the i 
animosity which had long subsisted between the fa- ; 
mi lies of Morris and Delancey, the hope of becoming , 
Lieutenant Governor by Mr. Clinton's interest, and of 
engaging the influence of the Newcastle patronage | 
in iavour of the proprietary object for establishing j 
an advantageous boundary projected by Mr. Alexan- i 
derin the year 1719. i 

Mr. Colden could not be an advocate in every part i 
of this scheme, as it would deprive him of the sue- { 
cession to the command as eldest Counsellor, and he \ 
hoped by his zeal for the prerogative to recommend I 
himself to the rank aimed at by Mr. Morris. He was, 
therefore, to be used no longer than till he had assist- \ 
ed in such representations of the state of the colony : 
as Mr. Morris was to be charged with, in justification '■ 
of the Governor, and for drawing down the resent- 
ment of the Crown upon his opposers. The Gover- ; 
nor's intentions* in favour of Mr. Morris, were to be i 
a secret. Mr. Colden was afterwards dismissed, and i 
the loss of his services supplied by Mr. Alexander, ' 
with whom Mr. Clinton had a good understanding, \ 
and for or by whom he had been prevailed upon to ^ 
write a letter to the Lords of Trade on the 7th of Oc- ; 
tober 1748, (not discovered till 1753,) calculated to 1 
facilitate the King's confirmation of the Jersey act, > 
for the establishment of the line of partition so much ' 
desired by the proprietors of the eastern part of that ' 
colony.* ^ 



* They made use of it before the Commissioners for plantation affairs at i 
the hearings on the opposition to the confirmation of the Jersey act. Mr. 
Charles procured a copy of it, and transmitted it to Mr. Junes in his letter 
of tlie 12th June 1753, and it gave such umbrage to the popular party of ; 
Jhat day that it deserves a place in these notes : ' 

" Mv Lords, 
" I some time since received a copy of an act, passed by the Legislature ^ 
of NpTV-Jersey, for rfinning" the line of partition and division between that 



i'/49.J j:u 

The Lords of Trade were easily excited to espouse 
the cause of the Governor, and began an exhibition of 
the state of the colony to his Majesty, but proceeded 
so slowly that Mr. Clinton's hopes of a victory over 
the Assembly, whom he had frequently prorogued in 
expectation of it, were exhausted. He, therefore, 
dissolved the House, determining, if he was not sup- 
ported by the ministry, to give way to the anti-Cos- 
byan doctrine of annual supplies, and the rather, be- 
cause it was impossible for him to form a party in 
his favor, till the clamors of the public creditors 
were appeased. 

Mr. Jones had the honor to be seated again in the 
chair when the new Assembly met on the 4th of Sep- 
tember 1750, in which but six new members were in- 
troduced. 

The business opened by th^e speech was, the sup- 
port of Oswego, an attention to the Indians, provision 
for the officers of government who had been two 
years unpaid, and the discharge of the public debts. 
In framing bills |pr raising money, he recommended a 



province and this, and was at the same time informed, that the Jersey pro- 
prietors intended to apply for his Majesty's royal approbation of the same. 
There have been many disorders committed on the borders of these pro- 
vinces, occasioned by the lines remaining unsettled. Of some of these dis- 
orders I had information given me by the late Governor of New- Jersey, by 
whom I was required to join in the settlement of the line, pursuant to acts 
then and still in force in both provinces for that purpose ; which I should 
have readily done, but, upon inquiring into the matter, I found that the sum 
of £300, formerly raised in this province by act of the 4th King Geo. I. 
had been long ago drawn out of the treasury and paid to commissioners and 
surveyors employed in that service and are since dead, and no other money 
was ever appropriated in this province for that service that I can learn. 
I also found, that all the lands along the line, for many miles within this 
province, were granted away to private persons, upon trifling quit-rents to 
the owners of the lands. I referred the matter, and recommended an ami- 
cable agreement between them and the Jersey proprietors, who had a 
meeting for that purpose, but nothing was agreed upon. As it does not ap- 
pear to me, that the interest of the Crown or of this province, in general, 
are in any ways concerned in the matter, but only the patentees of the 
lands along that line, I shall decline giving your Lordships any trouble in 
the affair, leaving it to the particular persons concerned to take such steps 
as they shall think proper. Thus much f thought it necessary to say, in 
order to explain the reasons of my conduct in this affair, and am withgrea* 
esteem, &c. 

" Fort George, t}% the city of J^'ew-York, 1th OcU 1748--' 



132 [Chap. IL 

conformity to his commission and instructions, re- 
marking, that these were planned at the revolution 
by those great ministers so distinguished by their 
knowledge and zeal lor the constitution. This was 
thought necessary, not only to prevent a popular tri- 
umph, but that the Governor might not, by the arrival 
of any instructions, be exposed to retract with dis- 
grace. Besides, it inspired the House with some 
dread, many of the public creditors imputing their 
disappointments rather to party rage than patriotic 
designs. 

The Assembly, unwilling to cavil at the commence- 
ment of the session, presented a short and cold ad- 
dress — thanking the Governor for his promise to pro- 
mote the peace and prosperity of the colony, and 
giving him theirs of an immediate attention to what 
he had recommended. 

The session continued to the 24th of November, 
the Governor and his Assembly proceeding with 
equal caution. They fearing that he would reject the 
annual support bills, and he their keeping them back. 
Both were, therefore, pleased at th^ close of it, for 
thirty-five acts were then passed of general or parti- 
cular utility : the currency of paper money prolong- 
ed ; the credit of our staple of flour secured ; most 
of the public creditors satisfied ; the arrears of the 
oflicers of government paid, and provision made for 
them and the agent for the ensuing year; and the 
digest of the laws of the colony, beginning at the 
revolution. 

Among the causes for the present moderation of 
the Assembly, I must not omit the intelligence of the 
attention of government to the true sources of the 
public animosities. It was communicated to the 
House by Mr. Charles, and it cooled the ardor of their 
leaders. " I am informed (says he in his letter of the 
29th of March 1750) that the Board of Trade are 
now preparing a representation of the state of the 
province of New-York, to be laid before his Majesty 
in Council ; and I understand, time will be given to 



1750.] 133 

all persons interested to be fully heard, before any 
determination shall be made thereupon." 

It was at this session that the expense of opposing 
the Jersey partition act was voted to be a provincial 
charge, an advantage derived to the New-York pro- 
prietors from the party spirit of that day, influenced 
by the Delancey family, and stimulated, in part, by a 
small interest they then had in the patent of the Mi- 
nisink, affected by the Jersey claim; but much more to 
sacrifice to the idol of popularity, and cross the new 
confidants on whom Mr. Clinton now relied. It 
will appear in the sequel, that they duped their coun- 
trymen more for the same views, till they were no 
longer of any use to their ambition, and that when one 
of the demagogues of that House became himself, 
several years afterwards, a proprietor of New-Jersey, 
the interest of New-York was abandoned, and by 
his influence and artifice sacrificed to his avarice. 

Mr. Speaker Jones's letter to the agent showed not 
only the spirit and idea of the Assembly respecting 
the New-York title, but Chief Justice Delancey's 
opinion was then strenuously contended for in all 
companies by him and his party. Mr. Charles had 
hinted at the propriety of leaving the controversy to 
commissioners, as the proper mode for settling it ; to 
which it is answered — "As to your intimation of hav- 
ing commissioners appointed for ascertaining the line 
of partition, I am to acquaint you, that inasmuch as 
the Crown is concerned as well as many hundreds of 
his Majesty's subjects of this colony, we choose to 
have a hearing and rely on the merits of our cause, 
unless the agents for New-Jersey will agree to be 
governed by the boundaries of the patent, granted 
by King Charles the second to his brother James 
Duke of York, the 12th March, in the 16<h year of 
his reign, which boundaries, given by the Crown to 
the Duke of York, are as follows, viz. — ' All that isl- 
and or islands, called by the several names of Maso- 
wacks or Long Island, situate, lying and being to the 
west of Cape Cod, and the narrow Higgansett, upon 
the main land between the two rivers there called or 



134 [Chap. If. 

known by the several names ol Connecticut and Hud- 
son's river ; together with the said river called Hud- 
son's river, and all the lands from the west side of 
Connecticut river to the east of Delaware bay, with 
the powers of government.' If tlien the Jersey agents 
will agree, that the head of Delaware bay, which is 
at Reedy Island, is their north bounds on Delaware, 
which we conceive is conformable to the patent from 
King Charles the second to the Duke of York, and 
run a line from thence to the latitude of 41 degrees 
on Hudson's river, we are willing commissioners 
should be appointed to see the line run ; for as to the 
boundaries described in the patent granted by the 
Duke of York to John Lord Berkley, &c. we con- 
ceive, they are no otherwise to be regarded in this 
dispute than as fixing the north bound on Hudson's 
river, because the said Duke could not extend his 
grant to them higher on Delaware bay or river than 
was granted to him by his brother King Charles the 
second ; the north boundary of which grant from King 
Charles we take to be at Reedy Island, or the head of 
Delaware, at that place where that river divides it- 
self into two branches, commonly called the Forks 
of Delaware, and run a line from thence to forty-one 
degrees of latitude on Hudson's river — this colony, 
with the assent of the Crown, will agree to it, and 
that commissioners shall be appointed to see it run ; 
otherwise you are to proceed to a hearing, and to in- 
sist on the boundaries granted by King Charles to his 
brother the Duke of York." 

So early as at this time Mr. Clinton gave notice of 
the activity of the French emissaries in practising 
upon the Indians on the river Ohio. He proposed a 
treaty with them in conjunction with Mr. Hamilton the 
Governor of Pennsylvania, to secure their fidelity. 
The Assembly excused themselves in an address, on 
account of their burdens during the war, of which 
that province, though benefited by them, had borne 
no part. The Governor gave them a calm answer, 
and offered his services if they would provide for the 
expense. The House then voted eight hundred 



1750.] 135 

pounds for presents, and one hundred and fifty pounds 
more for his disbursements in attending a new treaty 
with the Six Nations ; but offering to provide for them 
by a separate bill, to which the Council proposed 
amendments (not concurred in because it was a mo- 
ney bill) it was lost, but the substance of it tacked to 
the salary bill. The French scheme of settling and 
fortifying in that part of the Indian country, was one 
of the principal causes of the new war of 1756 ; nor 
shall I omit, that it was at this session the House 
adjudged the arrest of a candidate on the day be- 
fore his election to be a member of the House to be 
illegal. 

It was the case of Mr. Tappen, chosen one of the 
representatives of Dutchess county. The Sheriff had 
him in custody on civil process for debt, and his col- 
league, Colonel Beekman, moved for his enlargement 
and attendance. The prisoner brought his habeas 
corpus returnable in term, while the House was sitting, 
and moved to be discharged by the Court. There 
were, at that time, but two Judges. The legality of 
the imprisonment on the day of election was contest- 
ed at the bar, and the Court being divided, the pri- 
soner continued in confinement till he carried his 
point in the House, but not without a division, in 
which Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Richards, and others sup- 
ported a motion, that it was dangerous to the country 
to take a man from the jail for debt and admit him 
into a House consisting but of twenty-seven mem- 
bers. He afterwards absconded, and a writ issued 
for a new election. 

The opinion of the majority gave no small offence 
without doors ; but the contradiction on the bench 
was applauded as a master-stroke of policy to pre- 
serve the concord which subsisted between the 
.Judges and Assembly — Mr. Philipse being a member, 
and Mr. Delancey's opinion agreeable to the judg- 
ment of the majority in favour of Mr. Tappen — the 
.Judges reading the reasons for their respective deci- 
sions with rapidity. The puisne Judge's real or af- 
fected passion on Mr. Delancey's argument and opi- 



136 [Chap. IL 

iiion, afTorded no small merriment to tHe practisers, 
this 'diversity being ascribed to the policy of the 
Chief Justice, who had no inclination to differ with 
any of the leading members of the House. It is pro- 
per to remark, that there was no act of the colony in 
force respecting the privileges of the members, from 
which the junior Judge drew consequences, which 
Mr. Delancey eluded by rising to the higher sources 
of the common law, and by applying the liberty of 
attending on the judicatures and courts to those on 
the court of elections, he deduced by arguments, ab 
inconvenienti^ and his main conclusion, that the arrests 
of Mr. Tappen were void. 

It was a fault of this Assembly that no applications 
were made to Parliament on the bill respecting the 
importation of iron from America, by which the co- 
lonies were restrained from erecting slitting mills, &c. 
The agent had given early notice of it in his letter 
of the 29th of June 1749: — "It gave me pleasure," 
says he, " to find by some hints thrown out in the 
House, that there is a probability of getting some- 
thing done to encourage the iron-mines of America. 
This is a matter in which most of the colonies are 
concerned, and well deserving their joint efforts. It 
likewise demands the attention of this kingdom, as 
nothing is more demonstrably the interest of Britain 
than to receive from her own colonies, in exchange 
for British manufactures, a commodity for which a 
balance is now paid in money to foreigners ; and it is 
to be hoped, that an encouragement of this kind 
would, in its consequences, be a means of promoting 
the growth of hemp as a fit assortment of a cargo for 
Britain." Nor was it enough that their Speaker had 
desired Mr. Charles to use his greatest efforts against 
the four last clauses of the bill relating to paper mo- 
ney, for enforcing the obedience of the colonies to 
the royal instructions, of which we were apprised be- 
fore the last session of the preceding Assembly; the 
Speaker's letter, for the opposition, bearing date the 
29th of June 1749. 



1750.] 137 

Theparty animosities of the day engrossed thegene- 
ral attention ; and the proprietors of the iron furnaces 
(of which there were only two, that at Sterhng, own- 
ed by Mr. Smith and others, and Mr. Livingston's at 
Ancram,) less vigilant than Mr. Allen, who instantly 
began a slitting mill in Jersey, lost an opportunity for 
advancing their own and the interest of the colony. 
While the iron bill was under consideration in the 
House of Commons, Mr. Chief Justice Morris, to 
serve his country, consented to be examined respect- 
ing the works in America, and felt all the distress 
which the public detection of a want of information 
will necessarily create in a delicate mind, where 
there is a disappointed ambition to excel. He could 
never recollect that hour without a great degree of 
that confusion and anxiety which led him to counter- 
feit a sudden indisposition for withdrawing himself 
from a situation in which he could neither sustain the 
ridicule of others, nor his own consciousness of in- 
capacity and disgrace. Some members of the commit- 
tee, whose aims he was brought to traverse, address- 
ed him on their questions by the title of " my Lord 
Chief Justice," that his imperfect answers might have 
the less weight; and certainly they succeeded in 
their design ; lor though Mr. Morris had professed his 
knowledge of this branch of business, he found him- 
self entirely ignorant, not only of the process of the 
work, but of the artificers employed in it, and the 
wages they received both in Great Britain and 
America. 

Mr. Clinton improved the interim before the next 
call of the Assembly, in animating several other go- 
vernments to watch against the French artifices in 
corrupting the fidelity of the Indians, intending to 
hold a treaty with the Six Nations in the summer of 
1 7.5 1 . Previous to his voyage to Albany he called the 
members to a condolence on the death of the Prince 
of Wales, and to a further contribution for the sa- 
vages. Both ends were answered. An afTectionate 
address, in which they all joined, was transmitted to 
the King : the design of a treaty approved, with pro- 

18 



138 [Chap. II. 

mises lo supply the dericiciicy, if any there should 
be, for brightening the chain of alhance with the " Six 
JVations, n-ho depend immediately upon this colony'' But 
at their interview in October, there were early indi- 
cations that the spirit of party was not yet extin- 
guished, though some of t!ie chiefs of the opposition 
were dead.* 

The speech asked for, the discharge of what was 
still due to the pubhc creditors ; an attention to the 
Indians, the French being assiduously intent upon de- 
bauching them ; and for the support of government, 
with a due regard to the royal commission and in- 
structions. 

There was an immediate call of the House, and in 
the address, a promise to provide for the government ; 
to pay just debts ; an intimation of surprise at further 
demands for the Indians ; a complaint that some of 
the members had not circular letters to notify this 
meeting, and a request that it may not be omitted in 
future. It was another bad symptom, that they did 
not send him a copy of it. The answer, therefore was 
communicated by a message. 

That they should have an account of the thousand 
pounds he had distributed among the Indians ; that 
the Deputy Secretary had orders to send letters to 
all the members, and he had assured him they were 
despatched to every one except the Speaker, but 
that this last was not usual, it being customary for him 
to attend the Governor before a prorogation expired. 
He recommended a union of Councils, and hoped, 
he said, to convince them, that no consideration 
whatsoever was of any weight with him, but the 
welfare and prosperity of the people committed to 
liis care. 

The ilame did not break out till the 18th of No- 
vember, when Colonel Johnson came down with a 
message from the Council for the vouchers of the se- 
veral demands provided for in a bill sent up for the 



Mr. Cljirkson, Mr. Justice Philipse, and Mr. Micheaux. 



1751.] 139 

payment of the colony debts, and the accounts which 
the Governor had sent or recommended for discharge. 
They voted this an unprecedented and extraordinary 
demand. The Council asserted it to be their right, 
and resolved not to proceed on that bill until they 
were gratified ; and sent down another of their own, 
for applying five hundred pounds for Indian affairs 
and the repair of Oswego. This the Assembly would 
hear but once, and rejected it for intrenching " on 
the great, essential, and undoubted rights of the 
House, to begin all bills for raising and disposing of 
money." 

They then prepared an address, lamenting the 
want of more money for the Indians, suggesting that 
the unsettled state of their affairs proceeds from mis- 
conduct orinattention, and that they made no provision 
for repairs at Oswego for want of estimates; complain- 
ing of the Council as the authors of all the bad con- 
sequences of the bill to discharge the colony debts, 
it being a breach of trust to consent to their claim of 
inspecting accounts ; and praying that he would pass 
such bills as he approved, and give the House a re- 
cess for the winter. 

After the delivery of this address, the Governor 
declared he could give no answer to it before he had 
consulted the Council ; and two days afterwards in- 
formed them, that Colonel Johnson had the merit of 
dissuading the Indians from their old practice of go- 
ing to Canada for an exchange of prisoners, and in- 
ducing them to entrust them to the Governor, as sub- 
jects of Great Britain ; and at the same time commu- 
nicated a copy of a letter from the Indian interpre- 
ter, demonstrating that the French were indefatiga- 
ble in endeavoring to defeat this advantageous inno- 
vation. 

On this they resolved, with a puerile censorious 
inuendo at their first meeting after May, to provide 
for the '• strings and belts of wampum which the in- 
terpreter might find necessary for transacting the bu- 
siness he had in charge from the Governor ;" that it 
is a part of their Speaker's duty to attend Governors 



140 ' [Chap. II. 

in the recess of the House ; that the omission of a 
circular letter to the Speaker was dangerous and di- 
latory; and for an address that it be not hereafter 
neglected. 

Mr. Clinton prudently shunned all altercation, con- 
vened both Houses the next morning, passed the bills 
that were ready, and, without the least previous inti- 
mation and to the astonishment of all present, dis- 
solved the Assembly, who, finding themselves laugh- 
ed at without doors, repented their passing the sup- 
port bill for the year so early in the session, which 
gratified the officers of government, while their neg- 
lect of the colony creditors added to the Governor's 
party, already strengthened by Mr. Alexander's tem- 
per, the appointment of Colonel Johnson to the Coun- 
cil, and Mr. Chambers to the second place on the 
bench. 

The inrtuence of the Chief Justice was, neverthe- 
less, so prevalent, that he had a great majority of 
friends and relations in the new Assembly, convened 
on the 24th day of October 1752. ' 

Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith,* upon whom the Go- 
vernor now relied, knew their connexions before Mr. 
Jones was re-elected to the chair, and sagaciously ad- 
vised toshort and general speeches, and such messages 
afterwards as were least calculated to enkindle the 
party fires which Mr. Colden's incautious, luxuriant 
compositions and high principles had so often exas- 
perated, to the advancement of the popularity of the 
person he meant to pull down. The whole speech, 
the address, and answer, as contrasts to the prolix 
transactions appearing in the journals of former years, 
are here transcribed. 



* From the abatement of the Cosbyan quarrels, in Mr. Clarke's time, 
Mr. Smith liad totally resigned himself to that wide field of business which 
his eloquence had opened to him, without intciferin<j in the general politics 
of the country. On the death of Mr. Bradley, the Attorney General, he 
could not avoid giving his assistance to the Governor, in g-ratitudc for his 
unsolicited appointment to the succession. His private diary has a memo- 
randum in these words : "^Sth August 1702, Itichard Bradley died, and I 
was, without asking, appointed Attorney and Auditor General. On the 31st 
August received my commission and was sworn into the ofl&ce."'^ 



1752.] 141 

**As sundry acts which greatly concern the trade 
and welfare of this province will, by their own limi- 
tation, expire the first day of January next, I have ap- 
pointed this meeting with you, to give you an oppor- 
tunity either to continue those acts, or provide other- 
wise in the place of them. The state of the Indian 
affairs, and of the frontier forts and fortitications in 
general, require your most serious consideration, 
timely provision, and aid. I shall, by the Deputy 
Secretary, lay before you the information I have had 
concerning them. 

" Gentlemen of the Assembly^ 

" The season of the year will naturally lead you 
to make provision for the support of his Majesty's go- 
vernment. 

" Gentlemen of the Council and General jSssemblif, 

" I assure you, that whatever bills you shall 
agree on for the benefit of this province, consistent 
with my duty to pass, shall most readily have my 
assent." 

THE ADDRESS. 

'•We, his Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the 
General Assembly of the colony of New-York, return 
your excellency our thanks for your speech. 

" The concern your excellency expresses for the 
trade and welfare of this colony, demonstrates your 
excellency's care for the public good, and it cannot 
but be extremely pleasing to every one who has his 
country's interest sincerely at heart. The advanced 
season of the year, the difficulties of attending the pub- 
lic service at this place, and the dangers which such 
members who have not had the small-pox apprehend 
themselves even here to be exposed to, all concur to 
induce us to postpone the consideration of every mat- 
ter, not immediately necessary to be provided for, 
and shall do therein what shall be for his Majesty's 
service and the welfare of this colony." 

He suppressed any remarks on the novel omission 



142 [Chap. If. 

of a previous copy, and, three days after, called them 
to hear this 

ANSWER. 

" Gentlemen of the General jhsemhly^ 

" I return you my thanks for this obliging ad- 
dress, and the assurances therein given me ; and as 
soon as you shall have made provision for the imme- 
diate and necessary service of the province, I shall 
readily grant you a recess as you desire." 

They sat only to the II th of November, and hav- 
ing voted to provide at the next meeting for repairing 
the fortifications, the establishment of a College, and 
the usual presents for the Indians, and other Indian 
affairs, he passed their bills, and, among the rest, the 
duty bill, and for issuing out of that fund the salaries 
of the officers to the first of September 1753. 

It may gratify the curiosity of the reader to know, 
that of the members of this Assembly Mr. Chief Jus- 
tice Delancey was nephew to Colonel Beekman, bro- 
ther to Peter Delancey, brother-in-law to John Watts, 
cousin to Philip Verplanck and John Baptist Van 
Rensselaer ; that Mr. Jones the speaker, Mr. Richard, 
Mr. Walton, Mr. Cruger, Mr. Philipse, Mr. Winner, 
and Mr. Le Count, were of his most intimate acquain- 
tances ; and that these twelve, of the twenty-seven 
which composed the whole House, held his character 
and sentiments in the highest esteem. Of the re- 
maining fifteen he only wanted one to gain a majori- 
ty under his infiuence, than which nothing was more 
certain ; for, except Mr. Livingston, who represented 
his own manor, there was not among the rest a man 
of education or abilities qualified for the station they 
were in. They were, in general, farmers, and directed 
by one or more of the twelve members above named 
— Mr. Dowc, by his colleagues Mr. Winner and Mr. 
Rensselaer — Mr. Thomas, by his brother-in-law the 
Speaker and his colleague Mr. Philipse — Mills, by 
Mr. Watts and his cousin-german Mr. Nicoll — Cornel, 
by his colleasfuc Mr. Jones — Mr. Lot and Mr. Vande- 



1752.J 143 

vier, Mr. Junton and Mr. Dupue, by all the city mem- 
bers* — Mr. Walton of Staten Island, by his cousin a 
JVew-York member, and his colleague Mr. Le Count — 
Mr. Filkin, by Colonel Beekman, whose interest 
brought him in — Mr. Snediker and Mr. Samuel Gale, 
by the members for the capital — and Mr. Mynderse 
of Schenectady, by Mr. Winner and Mr. Rensselaer. 
Of the whole House, the only wealthy able member, 
neither connected with Mr. Delancey nor in the 
sphere of his influence, was Mr. Livingston. 

His station on the bench, with the independent te- 
nure of good behaviour, added to his amazing power, 
which was again augmented by the inferior abilities 
of his assistants and his incessant assiduity, joined to 
his own affluence and that of his family, in cultivat- 
ing all the arts of popularity from the moment he was 
disgusted by Mr. Clarke in the year 1737. Nor was 
he without dependants even in the Council, though 
by the death of some weak men introduced by his 
interest, the suspension of Mr. Horsmanden who 
ventured too deeply in measures against Mr. Clinton, 
and the introduction of Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Holland, 
and Colonel Johnson, he had lately lost ground at 
that board ; but, not many years afterwards, he found 
means to regain and almost engross the whole sway 
in the executive department. 

To him, therefore, who barely considers the inve- 
terate animosity between this demagogue and the 
King's Governor, such a session as the last may ap- 
pear not a little mysterious. The truth is, that he 
began to be fearful of having overacted his part. It 
was clear, from the success of Mr. Clinton's recom- 
mendations to office, that the representation prepar- 
ing by the Lord's of Trade, could not be favorable to 
the party that opposed him ; and besides, the hints 
dropped by Mr. Chief Justice Morris and others in 
England, of meditated vengeance, corresponded with 
the intimations from Mr. Charles ; and many persons 



* Messrs. Richard, Cruger, Watts, and Walton, 



144 [Chap. U. 

had ventured to predict, that the heated councils by 
which the Assembly had been so long led, would end 
in the ruin of the province. The agent had informed 
the speaker, by a letter of the 30th of May, 1751, 
" that the report touching the state of this colony, 
was at last transmitted from the Board of Trade to 
the King in Council." He adds: "It is said to be 
very long and particular, and to consist of a quire of 
paper, with two quires more by way of appendix, 
whereof I can have no copy, till it is read in Council 
and referred to a committee, when I shall move for a 
copy, to be transmitted to the General Assembly for 
their instructions thereupon. The affair of the Jer- 
sey line remains yet unproceeded upon." On the 
22d of June following, he sent a copy of the act to 
regulate and restrain paper money in the four New 
England colonies, carried through by the patronage 
of the Board of Trade, with a disagreeable prognos- 
tication, that it appeared to him " to be a prelude to 
a total abolition of paper credit in the colonies; for, 
as what is allowed to be issued even on the greatest 
emergencies, is not a legal tender between man and 
man, I apprehend the conveniency and utility of it is 
quite taken away." He then adds : " The represen- 
tation touching the state of your province, has not yet 
been read in Council, owing possibly to some late 
changes in the ministry, the Earl of Granville being 
declared President of the Council, and the Earl of 
Holdernesse Secretary for the Southern Department, 
in which America is included. I will carefully watch 
its progress, and acquaint you therewith." His letter 
of the 29th of July following, has this clause: "I am 
in constant .expectation of hearing that the represen- 
tation touching the state of your colony, will be taken 
into consideration; upon which subject, I am sorry 
to say that, as far as 1 can learn, it contains volumes 
of paper, of which I am denied a sight, and can yet 
have no copy. Several rights and privileges claimed 
by the General Assemblies of your colony, of which 
they have been many years in possession, are struck 
out: and complaints are made of particular peisons. 



1752.] - 145 

which f was in hopes had long ago been dropped, t 
heartily wish the whole of this matter may not dis- 
compose the peace and tranquillity which had an 
appearance of being re-established in the colony. 
The affair of the Jersey line is not yet proceeded 
upon ; for carrying on which, I have received the re- 
mittance of one hundred pounds, mentioned in your 
letter. I have now only to add, that I understand a 
commission lies prepared at the Secretary of State's 
Office, appointing Robert Hunter Morris, Esq. to be 
Lieutenant Governor of New-York." His letter of the 
10th of August is this ; " I am to acquaint you, that 
on the 6th instant, the Lords of the Committee of his 
Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, entered 
upon the consideration of the reports of the Commis- 
sioners for Trade and Plantations, touching the state 
and condition of the colony of New-York, and refer- 
red the same, as I am informed, tor further considera- 
tion. Having repeatedly applied to know whether, 
as agent of the colony, I might obtain a copy of this 
report, and of the papers accompanying it, (both 
which are very long,) and being given to understand 
there were orders against giving any copy, and that 
the matter would be taken up and considered as an 
affair of state, I believed it my duty to take the earli- 
est opportunity of renewing that application. As 
soon as the report was read, I therefore wrote a let- 
ter to the Secretary of the Council, which he did me 
the favor to lay before their Lordships of the Com- 
mittee, who, as 1 am informed, not having yet resolv- 
ed whether they will allow a public hearing on the 
subject matter of the report, and a copy of it being 
yet denied me, i must remain contented to watch its 
progress, and to take their Lordships' pleasure. If 
their Lordships proceed herein as a Council of Stale 
only, it will be from the orders and instructions that 
may be issued, that your colony will be able to judge 
of the principal points of the report : and if the regu- 
lations proposed do sensibly affect your colony, you 
will no doubt thereupon make such humble repre- 
sentations to the Crown as you shall judge necessary, 

19 



146 [Chap. If. 

which must bring the whole at last to an open and 
public discussion. Mr. Morris's commission to be 
Lieutenant Governor of your colony, lies yet incom- 
pleted/' On the 4th of May, 1752, he writes thus : 
" The further consideration of the report of the Board 
of Trade, touching the state of your colony, has not 
been resumed in Council since August last ; and I am 
still not permitted to have any copy or extract of it, 
though I continue in hopes that their Lordships of 
the Privy Council will not come to any resolution 
thereupon, without hearing the parties that may be 
affected by it. Being thus deprived of the means of 
informing the House with certainty, in points that 
may be of great consequence, I can only, under these 
circumstances, take measures for their service as op- 
portunities are given me, of which I will not fail to 
make the amplest use in the discharge of my duty. 
Nothing material is yet done in the affair of the boun- 
dary line between your colony and New-Jersey. The 
intended commission to Mr. Morris as Lieutenant 
Governor, is quite laid aside. I cannot conclude, 
without expressing my sincere wishes that a good un- 
derstanding may be restored between the several 
branches of your Legislature, and may subsist, for the 
general welfare and tranquillity of the colony." 

In this precarious situation of affairs, it could not 
subserve Mr. Delancey's popular interest to increase 
the indignation of government against the colony, the 
numerous families whose estates were affected by the 
Jersey claims, growing extremely jealous of any fur- 
ther broils between the Assembly and the Governor, 
Those contests besides, were inauspicious to the 
success of his designs of obtaining the Lieutenant 
Governor's place, by which he hoped to find an 
escape for himself and his friends, if Mr. Colden took 
the command of the colony as President of the Coun- 
cil, an event which he could not turn his eye to with- 
out horror. It was therefore expedient, while Mr. 
Delancey's friends were negotiating in England for 
the gratification of his ambition, to suspend hostilities 
against Mr. Clinton ; and the reader now has the new 



1753.] 147 

key to the seeming inattention of the Assembly to that 
part of the Governor's speech in October 1751, re- 
quiring their conformity to his commission and in- 
structions to the Governor's courage in the last disso- 
lution, and the subsequent pusillanimity of the new 
Assembly during the rest of his administration. 

Mr. Clinton furnished a fresh proof of the stability 
of his interest at Court, by introducing a new mem- 
ber into the Council. He had procured the royal 
mandamus for Mr. Smith, in preference to Colonel 
Morris, for whom some solicitations were made by his 
brother, then in England, and before Mr. Oliver De- 
lancey, whose sister was the lady of Sir Peter Warren. 
Mr. Smith was sworn in on the 30th of April, 1753. 
The Assembly was convened a month afterwards, at 
Jamaica, the capital being not yet free from the con- 
tagion of the small-pox. 

The speech proposes a revision of the colony laws, 
and the framing and passing a new digest, according 
to a model executed in Virginia, and now recom- 
mended to our imitation by the Lords Justices and 
the Board of Trade, to which some embarrassments 
in the researches for compiling the late representa- 
tion in the latter, had probably given rise. 

He assigns the true reason of meeting them at an 
unusual place ; declares it to be by the advice of the 
Council, and in tenderness to the House ; professes 
his confidence in their honor and justice, for a due 
attention to the state of the Indian alliance, the re- 
pair of the northern fortifications, and the discharge 
of the colony debts ; applauds their late resolution to 
promote the arts and sciences, by establishing a se- 
minary of learning, as worthy their diligent prosecu- 
tion and most serious attention ; informs them of the 
intrusions upon the colony by our neighbors; sug- 
gests the expediency of concerting measures respect- 
ing them, by a committee both of the Council and 
Assembly ; and promises readily and heartily to join 
with them in promoting the happiness of the colony. 

The Assembly thanked him ; hoped that the new 
Code of colony laws, then just published, would not 



148 [Chap II. 

be disapproved bj the King ; testified their gratitude 
for his regard to their safety in the convention at Ja- 
maica ; and promised an immediate attention to mat- 
ters laid before them. Not a single instance of the 
want of harmony no-w appeared. 

A committee of both Houses met on the New Eng- 
land intrusions, and a bill was passed, for appoint- 
ing Commissioners to prepare representations upon 
them to the King's Ministers ; a further sum was rais- 
ed by lottery for the college ; the colony debts dis- 
charged, and every message received and attended 
to ; money voted for fortifications ; large sums given 
for presents to the Indians ; the critical state of their 
friendship confessed; and the Governor implored, by 
an address, to visit and treat with them. Mr. Clinton 
being indisposed, condescended to propose a treaty 
by commission, and to authorize such persons for this 
trust, as the Council and Assembly might nominate 
and recommend to him : and Colonel Johnson, such 
was the policy of the House, became the sole distri- 
butor of the presents, and the confidant of both 
Houses. 

To such as knew the offence taken at Mr. Clinton's 
patronage of this gentleman, and the obstacles raised 
to avoid the payment of his demands, it afforded no 
small surprise to see a joint address of both Houses, 
signed James Delancey and David Jones, requesting 
a treaty for appeasing the ill temper of the Indians, 
and declaring it to be the opinion both of the Coun- 
cil and Assembly, "that Colonel Johnson is the most 
proper person to be appointed to do this service; 
and we humbly hope your Excellency will commis- 
sionate him." 

Towards the close of the session, which ended the 
4th of July, and the last in Mr. Clinton's administra- 
tion, he revealed the secret of his daily expectation 
of a successor, and his intention to return to England. 
It was extracted by their importunity for his making 
a journey to assuage the Indians. 

The Commissioners appointed for defending the 
colony against the encroachments of Massachusetts 



.1753.] 149 

Bay* and New-Hampshire, were all members of the 
Assembly ; viz. David Jones, John Thomas, Paul 
Richards, William Walton, Henry Cruger, and John 
Watts ; and though the object of that act was a very 
important one, yet very little advantage was derived 
from it. 

The rise of the controversy with New-Hampshire 
was this: — Before the year 1741, that colony was 
considered as the tract granted to Mason and Gor- 
ges, and extending only sixty miles from the sea-coast, 
did not by many miles reach the river Connecticut. 
The commission to Mr. Benning Wentworth, Gover- 
nor of it, issued in that year, and declared his pro- 
vince to extend westward and northward, "until it 
meets with his Majesty's other provinces." 

On the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, that Go- 
vernor conceived the design of extending his juris- 
diction westward to twenty miles from Hudson's Ri- 
ver, because New-York had agreed with Connecticut 
to such a boun^dary on the east ; and Massachusetts 
had of late years intruded so far upon certain old pa- 
tents of this province, extending to thirty miles east 
from that river. 

The country in the north-eastern corner of this 
colony was, before the late war, almost entirely un- 
known, and so exposed to the incursions of the ene- 
my, especially after the erection of the fort at Crown 
Point in 1731, that it contained scarce a single inha- 
bitant when Mr. Wentworth began to grant it as a 
part of the province of New-Hampshire, in 1749. 
Then the quarrel arose. New- York insisted upon 
Connecticut River as her eastern boundary ; and af- 
ter several letters had passed between Mr. Clinton 
and that Governor, it was agreed in July 1750, to 
state their claims, exchange copies of their represen- 
tations, and submit to the royal decision, it being un- 
derstood that all intermediate grants should be sus- 
pended. 

* In the first volume of this work, is inserted the report of the Council 
in JNIarch 1753, on the pretensions of Massachusetts Bay. 



150 [Chap. II. 

Mr. Wentworth, whose narrow views prompted 
him to greater activity, stated his claim, and despatch- 
ed it, in a letter of the 23d of March, 1750, without 
the least previous intimation to the Governor of 
New-York ; and soon after, multiplied grants of the 
controverted territory under the seal of New-Hamp- 
shire. This precipitation, which, by pressing private 
interest into the maintenance of a point that might 
have been otherwise settled without difficulty, is the 
true origin of those disorders in that quarter of the 
country. New- York afterwards exhibited its title, 
when advised by the agent of the clandestine con- 
duct of New-Hampshire ; and to support it, and re- 
press the incursions of Mr. Wentworth's patentees, 
was one of the objects Mr. Clinton had in view at the 
last meeting of his Assembly. Nor could he omit the 
notification ; for the agent, upon the receipt of an ex- 
tract from Mr. Wentworth's letter to the Lords of 
Trade, from the Secretary to that Board, who had 
procured time to consult his constituents, on the 18th 
of February, 1753, wrote both to the Governor and 
the speaker, and enclosed copies of the New-Hamp- 
shire application for running out the line he had set 
up for a partition between the two colonies. The 
sequel will show how much the unseasonable neglect 
of the rights of the colony at this juncture, was after- 
wards to be regretted. 



1753.] ir*(. 



CHAPTER 111. 

From the resignation of Governor Clinton, to the appointment 
of Sir Danvers Osborn as Governor. 

Mr. Clinton was at Flushing, in Queen's County, 
where he had resided the whole summer, Avhen Sir 
Danvers Osborn* arrived to succeed him in the com- 
mand, which was on Sunday, the 7th of October, 1753. 
He was met at Whitehall by the Council, Mayor and 
Corporation, and chief citizens, and attended to the 
Council Chamber ; and, in the absence of Mr. Clin- 
ton, took up his lodging at Mr. Murray's, whose wife 
was a daughter of Governor Cosby, and a distant re- 
lation of Sir Danvers's deceased lady, a sister to the 
Earl of Halifax. Mr. Clinton waited upon him the 
next day, and they both dined at an entertainment 
provided by the Council. On Wednesday morning 
they assembled the Council at the Fort, for adminis- 
tering the oaths, and then began the usual procession 
for reading the commission at the Town Hall. The 
indecent acclamations of the populace, stimulated by 
the partizans of the late troubles, induced the old 
Governor to take leave of his successor at a short 
distance from the Fort, while Sir Danvers stalked 
along with the Council and Magistrates, rather se- 
rious than cheerful, amidst the noisy shouts of a 
crowded throng. 

After his return to the Council Chamber, he receiv- 
ed the address of the City Corporation, of which he 
had a copy, and with difficulty restrained his inten- 
tion of begging the alteration of a passage in it, which 
he thought expressive of jealousy. The Avords were : 



* Mr. Charles, in his letter of the 11th of June, 1753, informed the 
speaker, that Sir Danvers was " a g-entieman of great worth, a Member 
of Parliament for Bedfordshire, and brotter-in-law to the Earl of Halifax." 



152 [Chap. III. 

"We arc sufliciently assured that your Excellency 
will be as averse from countenancing, as we from 
brooking, any infringements of our inestimable liber- 
ties, civil and religious." 

These particulars are mentioned with the more 
minuteness, on account of the tragical end to which 
this unfortunate gentleman was approaching. 

He told Mr. Clinton, with disapprobation of the 
party exultations in his progress to and return from 
the town-hall, " that he expected the like treatment 
before he left the government." 

While at a splendid dinner, given to the two Go- 
vernors and the Council by the Corporation, there 
was every demonstration of joy. The city was illu- 
minated, cannon were discharged, and two bonfires 
lighted up on the common, in the evening. Sir Dan- 
vers took no part in the general joy. He retired ear- 
ly in the afternoon, and continued at his lodgings, 
while the whole town seemed abandoned to every 
excess of riot. The last act of Mr. Clinton's admi- 
nistration was the delivery to Mr. Delancey of a com- 
mission to be Lieutenant Governor. This had been 
done in the presence of the Council, immediately af- 
ter he gave the seals to Sir Danvers, and it contribu- 
ted much, with the discovery now made of Mr. Clin- 
ton's letter to the Lords of Trade respecting the Jer- 
sey claim,* to the mad transports of the populac^ in 
the streets and commons. 

Sir Danvers rose early on Thursday morning, and 
before the family were about, had, alone, patrolled 



='• It was divulged at one of the hearings, on tlie 29th of May and 5th of 
June, before the Board of Trade, after the objections by Mr. Forrester and 
Mr. Pratt (since the celebrated Lord Camden) to the Jersey act, and to 
show, that the Crown had, except some trifling quit-rents, no interest in the 
controversy. The contents of the agent's letter of the 12tli of June, with 
the history of those debates, were no»v publicly retailed, and exasperated 
the New- York landholders near the contested line, for the bounds and re- 
servations of their patents had been authenticated under Mr. Alexander's 
oath, with information concerning their vast extent, to make unfavorable 
impressions, as Mr. Clarke expresses it, upon tiie minds of the Lords of 
Trade ; " which (says he) may possibly remain." The author transcribed 
the report, of which Mr. Pratt was the penman, in the former volume, oa 
which the Jersey act was repealed by the King'. 



1753.] ]53 

the markets and a great part of the town. He com- 
plained of being somewhat indisposed; and at din- 
ner said, with a smile to Mr. Delancey, " I believe I 
shall soon leave you the government. 1 hnd myself una- 
ble to support the burden of it." He had convened the 
Council in the forenoon, and appeared in some per- 
turbation at their first assembly, especially when he 
found that Mr. Pownal, who had the key of his cabi- 
net, was not within. He was desirous to show them 
his instructions. He informed them, that he was 
strictly enjoined to insist upon the permanent indefi- 
nite support of government, and desired their opi- 
nions upon the prospect of success. There was a 
general declaration, that tlie Assembly could not be 
brought to adopt that scheme. With a distressed 
countenance, and in a plaintive voice, he addressed 
Mr. Smith who had not yet spoke a word — " What, 
sir, is your opinion ?" — and when he heard a similar 
answer, he sighed, turned about, reclined against the 
window-frame, and exclaimed, " then what am I come 
here for .'*" 

In the evening he had a physician with him, talked 
of ill health, was disconsolate, and retired to his 
chamber, and at midnight dismissed his servant. 
While the house was preserved the next morning in 
the utmost silence, upon an apprehension that he was 
still asleep, an account was brought that he was 
hanging dead against the fence at the lower end of 
the garden. A vein was opened, but to no purpose. 

The malevolence of party rage would not, at first, 
ascribe this event to the insanity of the deceased ; 
but threw out insinuations, that he had been brought 
to his end by foul means, and that the criminals 
were some of those who could not suppress theirjoy to 
see Mr. Clinton a private character and Mr. Delan- 
cey at the helm ; nor did these unjust suspicions soon 
subside. 

The Council were immediately summoned to Mr. 
Murray's house, where the tragedy was acted, and 
every circumstance inquired into, for the satisfaction 
both of his relations and the Crown, and the vindica- 

20 



104 [Chap. Ill 

tion of the party led by the new •> Lieutenant Gover- 
nor to such lengths against Mr. Clinton, who was then 
preparing for his voyage. 

On the top of the fence was a row of large nails, 
inverted, to exclude thieves from the garden, over 
which he had cast a silk handkerchief tied at the op- 
posite ends, and had elevated his neck to it by a 
small board, which was found near him over his hat 
upon the ground. 

After his servant left him he had consumed a vast 
number of private but no public papers, endorsed 
others, whicli he preserved ; wrapped up a sum of 
money, borrowed since his arrival, and directed it to 
the lender. There was lying on his table a paper, 
Avritten in his own hand, qiiem deus vxdt perdere^ prius 
dcmmtat^ and the Coroners inquest believed his testi- 
mony, for they found him a lunatic. 

A man, who before the light of that day passed the 
river in a boat under the fence, heard the noise of his 
heels against it in his last struggles. But Mr. Pow- 
nal's testimony surmounted every obstacle in the 
minds of all persons of candor. This gentleman 
(since so well known in the characters of Lieutenant 
Governor of New-Jersey, assistant to the Earl of Lou- 
doun in the war of 1756, Governor of Massachusetts 
Bay, Commissary in Germany, and a member of the 
British Parliament) came out as a guide and assistant 
to Sir Danvers Osborn, and revealed the secret, that 
the Baronet had been melancholy ever since the loss 
of his lady, whom he most passionately admired, 
and that he had before attempted his own life with a 
razor; adding, that Lord Halifax, by whose interest 
he obtained tlie government, had hopes that an ho- 
norable and active station abroad might have de- 
tached him from the constant object of his anxious 
attention. As it may be interesting to know every 
thing relating to this unfortunate gentleman, and as 
Mr. Smith was at that time one of the Council, and 
under no bias to the party calumniated at his death, 
and his diary kept with such secresy that none of his 
children ever knew, in his life-time, that he had one, 



J753.J 155 

for the sake of truth these passages are inserted, that 
the most scrupulous may be satisfied. 

" Wednesday, lOth October, 1753. 

" Sir Danvers Osborn pubhshed his commission, 
took the usual state oaths and that relating to trade, 
and received the seals from the hands of Governor 
Clinton, who then (pursuant to an order from the 
Duke of Newcastle to deliver the commission of Lieu- 
tenant Governor, before his Excellency left the go- 
vernment, to James Delancey, Esquire,) delivered the 
same in Council accordingly, and Sir Danvers took 
the oath of Governor and Chancellor, or Keeper of 
the Great Seal. The commission was afterwards 
published at the City-Hall. The Corporation treated 
the new Governor and Council at Burns's ; and the 
whole was conducted and the day and evening spent 
with excessive shoutings ; two bonfires, illuminations, 
ringing of the church bells in the city, drunkenness, 
and other excessive demonstrations of joy. 

" Thursday, 11th October. 
" Sir Danvers appeared very uneasy in Council. 

« Friday, 12th October. 

" Alarmed by the door-keeper of the Council about 
eight o'clock, desiring me to come to Mr. Murray's, 
saying, ' the Governor had hanged himself."^ Went, and 
found it awfully true. He had been found in Mr, 
Murray's garden hanging in his handkerchief fasten- 
ed to the nails at the top of the ience. On the first 
discovery, his body was found quite cold, and upon 
two incisions no blood issued. He was brought into 
the house and laid on the bedstead, where I saw him, 
a woful spectacle of human frailty and of the wretch- 
edness of man, when left to himself The Council 
went from Mr. Murray's to the fort, where Chief Jus- 
tice Delancey published his commission, and took the 
oaths in our presence, and received the commission 
of Sir Danvers and seals and instructions, by order- 
of Council, from Thomas Pownal, Esq.; but took not 



156 [Chap. III. 

the oath of Chancellor, lest it might supersede his 
commission of Chief Justice, till this point be consi- 
dered. His commission, after it was read in Council, 
was published only before the fort gate, without any 
parade or show, because of the melancholy event of 
this day. 

" The character of Sir Danvcrs Osborn, Baronet, of 
Chicksands in the county of Bedford, as far as I could 
observe, having been every day since his arrival with 
him, was this — he was a man of good sense, great 
modesty, and of a genteel and courteous behavior. 
He appeared very cautious in the wording of the 
oaths, particularly for observing the laws of trade en- 
joined by the statute of 7th and 8th William III. He 
appeared a very conscientious man to all the Coun- 
cil in that particular. A point of honor and duty, in 
a foreseen difliculty to reconcile his conduct with his 
Majesty's instructions, very probably gave his heart 
a fatal stab, and produced that terrible disorder in 
his mind which occasioned his laying violent hands 
on himself 

" He was found between seven and eight in the 
morning hanging about eighteen inches from the 
ground, and had been probably some hours dead. 
His Secretary told me, this morning, he had often 
said to him, he wished he rims Governor in his stead. He 
or somebody else >desired me to observe the ashes in 
the chimney of his bed-room, as being necessary to 
be observed to excuse his producing of any papers 
that might be expected to be produced by him, and 
he showed me two pocket-books in w hich there was 
nothing remaining. He said, that when the copy of 
the Episcopal Church address was shown yesterday, 
he observed to Sir Danvers, that he would have an 
opportunity here, by going to church, to act accord- 
ing to his own mind, and that he (the Secretary) with 
the gentlemen should wait on him. To which (says 
Mr. Pownal) he gave me this shocking answer, '•you 
may, but /shall go to my grave.' 

" A committee of Mr. Alexander, Mr. Chambers, 
and the Mayor, are appointed to take depositions 



1753.] 157 

concerning the facts and circumstances attending his 
death. The jury have found Sir Danvers (as is said) 
non compos mentis. Mr. Barclay* was sent for into 
Council to desire him to read the burial service. He 
objected, as the letter of the rubric forbids the read- 
ing it over any that lay violent hands on themselves. 
Agreed in Council, that the meaning ought to be re- 
garded more than the words. I said, qui haeret in li- 
tere, haeret in cortice, and if the jury on inquest found 
Sir Danvers non compos, his corpse had as much 
right to Christian burial as the corpse of a man who 
had died in a high fever. This seemed to satisfy Mr. 
Barclay coming from me, seeming with more of his 
regard, than if it had come from another.t He said, 
he had not any scruples of conscience, but he desired 
to avoid censure, as we have people of different opi- 
nions amongst us. 

" Sabbath, lith October, 1753. 

" Last evening attended the funeral of Sir Danvers 
Osborn, as a bearer, with five others of the Council 
and Mr. Justice Horsmanden and Mr. Attorney Ge- 
neral ; and this day, in the old Enghsh Church, heard 
a sermon from Hebr. lOth chap. 24th verse — '• and let 
us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good 
works.'' " 

Mr. Clinton had no sooner given up the reins than 
he retired to the west end of Long Island, from 
whence he embarked, but not till he had suffered the 
keenest mortification under the late unexpected vi- 
cissitudes; for he not only heard himself execrated, 
and saw his enemy advanced and applauded, but was 
a witness to the ungrateful desertions of some of 



This geDtleman, who served as a Rlissionary to the Mohawks, was, on 
tiie death of Mr. Vescy in 1746, called to be Rector of Trinity Church in 
the metropolis. His arrears of 20 pounds were provided for in the support 
bill of that year, and there has been no provincial allowance since that 
time towards the propagation of Christianity among the Indians. 

f Mr. Smith was a member of the Presbyterian congregation in com- 
mtiQioD with the Church of Scotland. 



158 [Chap. III. 

those he liad raised and obhged. He had, neverthe- 
less, the spirit to reject some insidious advancements 
made by Mr. Delancey towards a reconcihation ; and 
thus parting foes, that artful politician who could 
not win him by bliLiidishment, resolved to parry his 
resentments and enervate his testimony, by loading 
him with disgrace. Thus he cut him out work when 
he arrived in England for tfie defence of himself. 
He sailed in the Arundel about the beginning of No- 
vember. Easy in his temper, but incapable of busi- 
ness, he was always obliged to rely upon some favo- 
rite. In a province given to hospitality, he erred by 
immuring himself in the fort, or retiring to a grotto in 
the country, where his time was spent with his bottle 
and a little trifling circle, who played billiards with 
his lady and lived upon his bounty. His manner of 
living was the very reverse of that requisite to raise a 
party or make friends. He w as seldom abroad ; many 
of the citizens never saw him ; he did not even attend 
divine worship above three or four times during his 
whole administration. His capital error was grati- 
fying Mr. Delancey with a commission, which ren- 
dered him independent and assuming, and then re- 
posing equal confidence in Golden, who was inter- 
ested in procuring his recall, or renderingthe country 
his abhorrence. He saw that event, and, to prepare 
for it, ventured upon measures that exposed him to 
censure. Mrs. Clinton prompted her husband, whose 
good nature gave place to her superior understand- 
ing, to every plausible device for enhancing the pro- 
fits of his government He sometimes took money 
for offices, and sold even the reversions of such that 
were merely ministerial. He set the precedent for 
the high fees since demanded for land patents, and 
boldly rehed upon the interest of his patrons to 
screen him from reprehension. He became after- 
wards Governor of Greenwich Hospital. It was a 
shrewd observation made by Col. Choat to the author, 
at Sheffield, in May 1755, on the controversy line be- 
tween this colony and the Massachusetts Bay, that 
Mr. Clinton was of all others the man we should have 



1753.] 159 

wished for our Governor; lor Jiis bottle and a present. 
he would have granted you every thing M'ithin the 
sphere of his commission ; but by joining Delancey, 
you became the dupes of private ambition, and 
brought your colony, through the Newcastle interest, 
into disgrace with the Crown. Mr. Clinton's accounts 
for expenditures, in consequence of the Duke's orders 
of 1746, amounted to eighty-four thousand pounds 
sterling ; and it was supposed that the Governor re- 
turned to England with a fortune very little short of 
that sum. 

The ambition and strife of Colden and Delancey 
gave rise to the new instruction, which arrived here 
without any previous intimation, for the ministry had 
eluded the vigilance of the agent, who so late as the 
11th of June informed the speaker, that the repre- 
sentations of the Lords of Trade, on which it was 
undoubtedly founded, was still unproceeded upon in 
Council. 

The thirty-ninth article recited, that great disputes 
had subsisted between the several branches of the 
legislature, the peace of the province had been dis- 
turbed, government subverted, justice obstructed, and 
the prerogative trampled upon ; that the Assembly 
had refused to comply with the commission and in- 
structions respecting money raised for the supply and 
support of government, had assumed the disposal of 
public money, the nomination of officers, and the di- 
rection of the militia and other troops ; that some of 
the Council, contrary to their duty, allegiance, and 
trust, had concurred with them in these unwarranta- 
ble measures ; and, therefore, it enjoined the Com- 
mander-in-chief, to endeavor to quiet the minds' of 
the people, to call the Council and Assembly toge- 
ther, and in the strongest and most solemn manner 
1o declare the King's high displeasure for their neg- 
lect and contempt, to exact due obedience, tojecedo 
from all encroachments, to demean themselves peace- 
ably, to consider without delay of a proper law for 
a permanent revenue^ solids indefinite^ and iviihout limita- 
tion, giving salaries to all Governors, Judges, Justices, 



iGO [Chap. lit. 

and other necessary officers and ministers of govern- 
ment, for erecting and repairing fortifications, annual 
presents to the Indians and the expense attending 
them ; " and, in general, for all such other charges of 
government as may be fixed or ascertained." It then 
permits temporary laws for temporary services, ex- 
piring when these shall cease ; but such laws, also, 
are to be consistent with the prerogative royal, the 
commission, and instructions. It also directs, that all 
money raised for the supply and support of govern- 
ment, or for temporary emergencies, be applied to 
the services for which it was raised, no otherwise 
than by the Governor's Avarrant, with the advice and 
consent of the Council ; not allowing the Assembly 
to examine any accounts ; and afterwards it com- 
mands, that if any Counsellor, or other Crown officer 
in a place of trust or profit, shall assent, advise, or 
concur with the Assembly for lessening the preroga- 
tive, or raising or disposing money in any other me- 
thod, the Governor shall suspend the offender and re- 
port it to the Board of Trade. By the 47th, the Go- 
vernor was prohibited from assenting to a law where- 
by any gitt was made to him by the Assembly, in any 
other manner than above mentioned. 48th, allowed 
him to take a salary of twelve hundred pounds ster- 
ling per annum. 49th, to receive a further sum, pro- 
vided it be settled on himself and his successors, or 
during the whole of his administration, and that vi^ithin 
a year after his arrival. 50th, required the three last 
to be communicated to the Assembly at the first meet- 
ing of the Assembly after Sir Danvers Osborn's ar- 
rival, and to be entered in the registers both of the 
Council and Assembly. 

Upon the supposition that the Council and Assem- 
bly would obstinately resist the execution of these 
commands, of which Sir Danvers Osborn could not 
doubt, he must have perceived that his administration 
would not only prove destructive to his private for- 
tune, but draw upon him the general odium of the 
country, and excite tumults dangerous to his personal 
safety. 



1753.] 3 CI 

The Council at this period were — 

Messrs. Colden, Messrs. Rutherford, 

Alexander, Holland, 

Kennedy, Johnson, 

Delancej, Chambers, 

Clarke, Junior, Smith. 

Murray, 
Of these Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith, as the ori- 
ginal projectors of the modern scheme of an annual 
support, and Mr. Delancey and Mr. Murray, as the 
subsequent fautors of that measure, and Mr. Justice 
Chambers, who held his oliice, as well as the Chief 
Justice, during good behavior, must have immediate- 
ly lost their places at the Council Board : and Mr. 
Secretary Clarke residing in England, the Governor's 
reliance in that branch of the Legislature could only 
have extended to Mr. Colden, Mr. Kennedy, the 
Collector of the Customs and Receiver General of 
the royal rents, Mr. Rutherford, a Captain of one of 
the independent companies, Mr. Holland, Mayor of 
the capital, Mr^ Johnson, then Colonel of the militia 
and residing in the Indian country : nor was it cer- 
tain that even those four last mentioned would have 
preferred their ofiices to their patriotism and the ab- 
horrence of the multitude : and when the sanction 
for infusing obedience came to be applied to the As- 
sembly, the tumult would extend, not only to the de- 
pluming of nine of the twenty-seven from their rank 
in the militia, but many others, who were Judges and 
Justices of the inferior courts ; to say nothing of 
their relations and friends and other public otficers, 
in a variety of stations, in all parts of the province, 
who might interfere in supporting them, and fall un- 
der the character of their advisers. Besides, it was 
imagined by some, that the instruction was designed 
for the removal also of the Judges, and to bring the 
question to a trial — -whether Mr. Clinton had au- 
thority to give them freeholds in Iheir places.-^ — a 
point of law ultimately cognizable before his Majes- 
ty in Privy Council; and because attended with dan- 
gerous consequences, not improbably one of the mo- 

21 



162 . [Chap. HI. 

tives of administration in raising Mr. Delancey to the 
place of Lieutenant Governor, that the ambition of 
the demag()o;iie might be pre-engaged into the service 
and aims of the ministry. 



CHAPTER IV. 

'From the Death of Sir Danvers Osborn to the accession of 
Lieutenant Governor Delancey. 

But the death of Sir Danvers Osborn dispelled the 
impending storm; and Dr. Golden who had retired 
to the country in disgust, cheated by his friends and 
disappointed by tne administration, and whose only 
consolation, under the scoffof his enemies and the ge- 
neral contempt of the people, was the vain belief that 
he had spread a net to entangle his old rival, was 
^oon after doubly mortitied to see him elude it by 
his craft, and the deep laid plan itself vanish like a 
bubble. 

Mr. Delancey's patli was a plain one. He must, 
indeed, resign the hope of a salary for one or per- 
haps two or three years, but the arrears would not 
be lost, if he could save his station. He had to pre- 
serve that Assembly — rebuke them publicly, for not 
obeying the instructions — and privately confederate 
with them, not only to remonstrate against them, but 
to impeach Mr. Glinton and blunt the edge of his ac- 
cusations. And while this farce was acting, he had 
nothing to dread from the Gouncil, none of them ap- 
proving while others were averse from the indefinite 
support ; Mr. Golden excepted, who became irrecon- 
cileable to the late Governor by the private scheme 
to exalt Mr. Morris, and therefore not disposed, nor, 
by his retreat, in a situation, if willing, to tell any 
thing on the other side of the water, for the gratifica- 
tion of Mr, Clinton's revenge. 



1753.] 163 

When Mr. Delancey had been sufficiently regaled 
by the incense of the most fulsome adulation, pro- 
moted by his friends, from all ranks and classes, to 
preserve his popularity on one side of the water, and 
render it useful to him and his party on both, he con- 
vened the Assembly, and on the 31st of October, be- 
fore Mr. Clinton's departure, made a speech, lament- 
ing the death of Sir Danvers as a public loss, because 
he had birth, a liberal education, and a distinguished 
character; communicated a copy of the obnoxious 
instructions, that they might thus be informed of his 
Majesty's displeasure ; asked provision for repairing 
the city fortifications and the trading house at Oswe- 
go ; recommended the preservation of the Indian al- 
liance ; condemned the farming of the excise ; ad- 
vised to train the people to arms, by a well regulated 
militia law ;* applauded the late act for inspecting 
flour ; urged to the prevention of frauds, in the ex- 
portation of beef, pork, and other commodities ; and 
to give appearance of zeal at court, earnestly pressed 
it upon them, to frame their bills for supporting the 
government in such a manner as the royal instructions 
required ; observing, very sagaciously indeed, " that 
by our excellent constitution the executive power is 
lodged in the Crown," but unfairly adding, (since, as 
a lawyer, he knew his doctrine asserted in general 
terms to be unsound) that the legal course for abuses 
of power was by application to the Crown ; which was 
an abuse of their confidence, public officers being in 
many instances indictable by a grand jury, and that 
the annual support had been substituted in this pro- 
vince, to supply the wants of relief in some cases, 
for which the laws of England prescribe an impeach- 
ment. 

The Assembly, after condoling the death of the late 
Governor, exult in the succession by a person of his 



* A militia law is generally favored both by Governors and tlie As- 
sembly, as it serves the latter in elections, and the former by gratifying 
the members at whose instance the militia officers are ordinarily ap- 
pointed. 



164 [Chap. IV. 

known abilities and just principles, and declare them- 
selves extremely surprised to find the colony had 
been so maliciously misrepresented ; they boast ot 
their attachment to the Crown; are at a loss for in- 
stances of disorder, except in the obstruction or per- 
version ot" public justice by Mr. Clinton's orders, to 
stop the course of the law in Dutchess county — his 
appointing Judges and justices of ill fame and ex- 
treme ignorance, one prosecuted for perjury Avhoni 
he rewarded,, they say, with the office of Assistant 
Judge, and others who were so illiterate as not to be 
able to write their names; that instead of assuming 
the direction of the militia, they had declined med- 
dling with it ; they had not the most distant thought 
of injuring the just prerogatives of the Crown; that 
the present mode of raising and issuing public mo- 
ney had been practised for sixteen years, and they 
hoped for his assent to bills according to the usual 
course ; that nothing should be wanting to promote 
the King's service and render his administration easy 
and happy. 

He echoes back their testimony in favor of the loy- 
alty of the people, having, in riding the circuits for 
twenty years, observed not an instance of disaffection, 
and promises to remove such officers as they com- 
plain of; but, with respect to his assent to their bills, 
he engages his concurrence, if they are framed in 
such a manner as his Majesty expects. 

They proceeded to a variety of acts, in the fullest 
confidence of their being passed ; and, for form sake, 
among the rest sent up the annual support bill to the 
Council, and stimulated them for information con- 
cerning its progress, but were answered immediately 
ihat it was rejected.* 



* Oq the 29lh November, twelve days before the Council's negative, Mr. 
Jones writes to the agent : " You will doubtless, before this reaches you, 
hear of the sudden and surprising death of Sir Danvers Osborn, and of 
the government's being thereby devolved on Mr. Delancey, our Chief Jus- 
tice. Uuder this administration we conceived great hopes, that all former 
disputes would have subsided; but, unluckily for this unhappy colony, the 
instructions Sir Danvers brought with him, with respect to the issuing bills 
for raising and issuing public money, are such, that, I think, no General 



1753.] 165 

He had every proof of their willingness to oblige 
him. Upon a message, with Lord Holdernesse's let- 
ter, advising of an intended encroachment of the 
French and Indians, they resolved to assist the neigh- 
boring colonies ; to resist force by force, in case of 
any invasion ; carried on sham process for punishing 
a printer, who had republished in a newspaper that 
part of their journals containing the thirty-ninth in- 
struction, only the substance of which he was or- 
dered to reveal. They also voted him a salary 
of fifteen hundred and sixty pounds, a larger sum 
than ever was given to any former Lieutenant Go- 
vernor, and equal to Mr. Clinton's allowance; eight 
hundred pounds more for Indian presents ; one hun- 
dred and fifty pounds for his voyage to Albany ; four 
hundred pounds for fuel and lights to the garrison ; 
his arrears as chief justice to the 12th of October; 
and after the rejection of the support bill, bound 
themselves for the expenses of his voyage and the 
presents he might distribute to the Indians. While 
the Lieutenant Governor, on the other hand, conspir- 
ed with them in appointing counsel to defend a quan- 
tity of powder in the province stores, seized by Mr. 
Kennedy, who was a friend to the late Governor, and 
struck at for seizing it as contraband; passed fifteen 
popular laws, and continued the session till they had 
perfected a complaint to the King, and a representa- 
tion to the Lords of Trade, against Mr. Clinton; ten- 
derly remarking before they parted, that they " must 
be sensible they had not acted in compliance with 
his Majesty's royal instructions ;" and " that he hop- 
ed, after consulting their constituents, they would, at 
their next meeting, bring with them such dispositions 
as would effectually promote the public service, and 
then proceed with a due regard to what his Majesty 



Assembly will comply wilh them ; and, tliercfore, I apprehend that no law 
will be passed for the application of public money this session, nor Gover- 
nor or Council recede without permission." 



166 [Chap. IV. 

justly expected from them, and thereby recommend 
themselves to his royal grace and favor." 

The address is a short declaration to the King of 
their abhorrence of those groundless imputations of 
disloyalty, most falsely and maliciously " reported to 
him." " Surely none but men destitute of justice, 
honor, and veracity, would represent us in a light so 
distant from truth." It concludes with warm profes- 
sions of loyalty and affection, roundly atfirming, " that 
there is not a native of the colony who would not 
cheerfully hazard his life, fortune, and all that is dear 
to him in the defence of his person, family, and go- 
vernment." But their complaint to the Plantation of- 
fice is a verbose, angry attack upon the late Gover- 
nor, and is so artless and unguarded as to reproach 
their Lordships by their representation to the King. 

Relative to the late disputes, they assert, that they 
arose from the maladministration of Mr. Clinton, who 
had maligned the colony to escape the censure him- 
self deserved ; it incautiously alleges, that, during 
Mr. Clarke's time, the peace of the colony was undis- 
turbed, no discord between the branches of the Le- 
gislature, no accusations of the Assembly's assuming 
the executive or trampling upon the prerogative ; that 
there were no animosities in the tirst three years of 
Mr. Clinton's administration, though the public mea- 
sures were then what they had been since. They 
then offer to prove — that Mr. Clinton was interested 
in privateers, and hired out the cannon given by the 
King for the use of the colony ; that Saratoga was 
lost by his withdrawing the troops to gain benefits by 
his independent company, and to the loss of the lives 
of many others of the King's subjects ; that he was 
the cause of the Indian disaffection, by embezzling a 
great proportion of the presents raised to secure their 
friendship ; that he demanded subsistence and pro- 
visions for two Indian companies, under Colonels and 
other officers of his appointing, when no such compa- 
nies ever really existed ; that he granted extravagant 
tracts of land, and exacted twelve pounds ten shil- 
lings for every thousand acres, in the remote parts of 



1753.] 167 

the colony, " besides reserving considerable shares 
in the grants to himself, by inserting fictitious names," 
to the discouragement of settlements, and the weak- 
ening of the northern frontiers, expensively and diffi- 
cultly defended ; that he obstructed the course of 
justice, by letters to the Judges and other officers of 
Dutchess county to delay proceedings, and to the 
Sheriff not to execute process in causes merely civil, 
and by secreting an information filed by the Attorney 
General against a person presented by the Grand 
Jury for perjury, and afterwards making that very 
man an Assistant Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, and a Colonel of the militia of \^ estchester 
county, though informed by a member of the Legis- 
lature ; that he openly sold offices, civil and military, 
and the reversions of some ; that he made frequent, 
long, and causeless prorogations, and suffered the 
duties for the support of government to expire; that 
he '''• commissionated''' ignorant and illiterate officers, 
some not able to write their names, and one to a Co- 
lonelcy in a northern county, suspected of being at- 
tached to the French interest during the war, and 
misrepresented the dispute to their Lordships, touch- 
ing the limits of this and the province of New-Jersey ; 
and these they assert to be the true grounds of the 
dissatisfaction during his administration. They al- 
leged, that the charge of assuming the direction of 
the militia is absolutely false, and that for several of 
his last years, he never mentioned the militia to the 
Assembly. 

On the great subject of the mode of support bills, 
the reader shall have their own words. " We further 
beg leave to assure your Lordships, that as iUj^ our 
duty and interest, so it is our hearty inclinanon, to 
do every thing we can conceive that may contribute 
to his Majesty's service and the good of this colony, 
which we look upon as inseparably connected ; and 
therefore should have raised a provision for, the sup- 
port of government, in the manner signified by that 
instruction, but that the raising a support of many 
years has, by long experience, been found to be much 



ib3 [Chap. IV. 

more hurtful to his Majesty's mtcrest, by giving per- 
petual occasion for disputes and contentions between 
Governors and Assemblies, than the method pursued 
ibr these sixteen or seventeen years last past. Had 
we indeed the happiness to be under his Majesty's 
care and inspection, we should think it our duty to 
to raise a support in the manner insisted upon in that 
instruction. But, unhappily for us, that is not our 
good fortune : we are under Governors, appointed by 
his Majesty, at a great distance from him and his im- 
mediate inspection, and who, as your Lordships must 
be acquainted, having no inheritance in the province, 
very often consider the government as a post of 
profit, which they hold by an uncertain tenure; and 
therefore, as it regards not them in what condition 
they leave the province upon their removal, instead 
of applying the monies raised for the necessities of 
government to the uses they were designed, have 
only been anxious to invent ways and means to con- 
vert as much as possible to their own private use and 
benefit. That this has been the case of most Gover- 
nors here, the Assemblies of this province have, by 
the many contentions which have subsisted on this 
liead, been but too sensible of, to the great and ma- 
nifest detriment of his Majesty's service, and the good 
of tliis province ; which sufficiently convinces us, that 
it is not for the interest of his Majesty and for the 
public good of this colony, to raise a support in any 
other manner than has been done for sixteen or se- 
venteen years past, whatever it may be for the pri- 
vate interest of a Governor." 

They then accuse Mr. Clinton, and probably with 
the ^«jnt's* hint of inattention to the Indians, who 

* In his letter of the 6th September, 1755, there is this clause : " I can- 
not avoid acquainting you with the concern it gave me to read, at tlie 
Board of Trade, the minutes of a late conference at Now York with se- 
venteen Moiiawlc Indians, who went away not only expressing their dissa- 
tisfaction, but resentment. As their errand appears to me to have been 
principally about land, I am in hopes they had no authority to speak on 
public subjects, such as the hatchet and rod, and that they will be disco- 
vered therein by the Six Nations. I shall be anxious to know the success 
of the Commissioners deputed to treat with them, being very sensible of 
the critical posture of affairs with respect to the Indians and others." 



1753.] 169 

were at New-York in June last, while the Assembly 
were sitting at Jamaica ; and add, what does not ap- 
pear in the journal, that the speaker, by letter to Mr. 
Clinton on the order of the House, besought him to 
promise them a meeting at Albany, a distribution of 
presents, and a redress of grievances ; that he would 
make Hendrick, the chief sachem of the Mohawks, a 
present, and that the House would provide for these 
expenses and the maintenance of those Indians ; that 
the Governor, nevertheless, dismissed them without 
any thing; and they were on the way on foot, with their 
baggage on their backs, when met by a gentleman 
from Albany, who, out of his own pocket, provided 
them a passage by water, and the House had reim- 
bursed him, with thanks : and this they urged *as a 
proof both of his neglect and contempt of the Indians. 

As a vindication of themselves from the charge of 
remissness respecting Indian and other affairs, they 
add, that they had subjected the colony to a tax of 
above eighty-one thousand pounds, without deriving, 
as some other colonies had, any recompense from the 
Crown. The whole concludes with their favorite ex- 
pression of a readiness " to hazard their lives, for- 
tunes, and all that is dear to them, against all the 
King's enemies ivhatsoeverP 

The transmission of the address to the King was 
entrusted to the Lieutenant Governor, and a copy, 
with the impeachment, enclosed by the speaker to 
Mr. Charles, on the 1 3th of December, the day after 
the session, in a letter containing the following pas- 
sages : — 

" As [ hinted before, no bill for the application of 
money has passed either the Council or Governor, 
and I apprehend that none will pass, until there be a 
countermand of orders from your side of the water. 
We have, however, contrived to procure a remittance 
for you of two hundred pounds sterling, which we 
hope will discharge your engagements. As to the 
Jersey affair, we think it his Majesty's right to ascer- 
tain the limits of his colonies ; and if the stations be 
once settled with you, we shall soon agree about run- 

22 



no [Chap. rv. 

ning the lines. We expect it will not be long before 
tlic colonies of Massachusetts Bay and New-Hamp- 
shire will coine upon the stage in the same respect. 
[t seems highly necessary tliat his Majesty should as- 
certain the boundaries of all his colonies, to prevent 
disputes among his subjects here, for we apprehend 
they will never agree among themselves," Again : 
" That party spirit which appeared among us during 
Mr. Clinton's administration, seems to be vanished, 
and there appears a great inclination to unanimity 
among all the branches of the Legislature. You have 
herewith, the remaining parts of the minutes of our 
House in this present session, and the whole of last 
session. . You have also herewith a representation 
fronnr us, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners 
for Trade and Plantations. Your own discretion will 
indicate to you how you are to manage the affairs. 
We expect to hear from you as quick as possible. 
Take particular notice of our address in our session 
at Jamaica, on Nassau Island, where we press Mr. 
Clinton to meet the Indians at Albany." By one of 
the acts of this session, the importation and passing 
o^ counterfeit British halfpence, and the very pos- 
sessing them, was prohibited, under severe penalties ; 
power given to search for them; and all disputes 
respecting them trusted, under forty shillings, to the 
summary hearing and description of one magistrate, 
and above that sum, to him and two freeholders of 
his choice. There was at this time an inundation of 
copper money, but it was not thought safe and expe- 
dient to venture a law against any but the adultera- 
ted coin. To bring it, however, into discredit, with- 
out giving umbrage to Great Britain, the House re- 
solved, on <he last day of this session, that they 
would proceed at their next to ascertain the value of 
halfpence and farthings. The merchants in the con- 
federacy immediately gave their vote its effect, by 
subscribing an agreement not to receive or pay this 
species of money, but at fourteen coppers halfpence 
to the shilling; and the practice prevailed univer- 
sally, after one inconsiderable riot by the mob, in 



1754.] ni 

which the Lieutenant Governor assisted the magis- 
trates in apprehending the chief rioters, who were 
punished for the ineffectual tumult they had raised 
in the capital. The policy of multiplying such sum- 
mary tribunals, was questioned by the zealous advo- 
votes of the old trial by jury; and there were some 
who animadverted upon the Lieutenant Governor's 
agency respecting this species of coin, as what would 
in Mr. Clinton have been represented worthy of re- 
prehension from the Crown.* 

In the month of March 17 5 i, nearly six hundre4 
pounds were raised, towards promoting a spirit of in- 
quiry among the people by a loan of the books to 
non-subscribers. The project was started at an 
evening convention of a few private friends : Messrs. 
Philip Livingston, William Alexander (afterwards 
known by the title of the Earl of Stirling), Robert R. 
Livingston, William Livingston, John Morin Scott, 
and one other person. To engage all parties in the 
subscription, it was carried first to the Lieutenant 
Governor and the Council. The Trustees of the in- 
stitution were annually eligible by the subscribers, 
and had the disposition of the contribution, with the 
appointment of the Librarian and Clerk. Every pro- 
prietor was to pay the yearly sum of ten shillings; 
and thus a foundation was laid for an institution orna- 
mental to the metropolis, and of utihty to the whole 
colony ; for the remote object of the projectors was 
an incorporation by royal charter, and the erection 
of an edifice, at some future day, for a Museum and 
Observatory, as well as a Library. Hitherto it con- 
sisted of valuable books in our own language only, 
which were deposited in the Town Hall, under the 
care of a Librarian. The number, by the annual 
subscriptions, is at present considerably increased ; 



* It was not till this day (12th December) that mortgag-es were subject- 
ed to a public registry for the prevention of frauds ; but the act now passed, 
though a useful one,' did not reach all the mischiefs intended to be prevent- 
ed. In disputes concerninj their property, ihc first registered is to be the 
Jlrst paid. 



172 [Chap. IV. 

but Governor Tryon lately gave the Trustees a char- 
ter, which it wanted, to invite to the donations neces- 
sary to accompHsli the hberal aim of the promoters 
of the subscription, who found some obstacles at first 
from the low state of science, and the narrow views 
and jealousies of sectarian zeal. 

About this time, the continent M'as alarmed by the 
attempts of the French to erect forts on the Ohio. 
Virginia, as most immediately concerned, took the 
first measures for defence. Mr. Dinwiddie, their Go- 
vernor, resolved to fortify the pass of Monongahela, 
•and called upon the sister colonies for aid. Circular 
letters arrived soou after from the Ministry, requir- 
ing a Congress at Albany, for treating with our Indian 
allies, and concerting a united plan to defeat the 
French aim of engrossing the interior country, and, 
by a chain of forts, to restrict the British settlements 
to the sea-coasts, or at some distant day, to acquire 
the exclusive dominion of the continent. A design 
this of vast magnitude, but not difficult to accomplish, 
i( France had at that day the sagacity to have pre- 
ceded her fortifications by the less suspicious trans- 
portation of a few thousand emigrants from her 
populous dominions in Europe, to the rich and fertile 
banks of the lakes and rivers, of which, to our shame 
be it remembered, we had no knowledge, except by 
the books and maps of her missionaries and geo- 
graphers. 

These events had no ill aspect upon the resistance 
of the Assembly to the scheme of an indefinite sup- 
port ; and yet they met on the 9th of April, 1754, in 
ill temper, because they had no advices to flatter 
them with the hope of gratifying their revenge upon 
the late Governor; and while some conceived that 
manifestations of liberality and zeal, others were of 
opinion that testiness and parsimony, would be most 
likely to procure the wished-for success. 

The Lieutenant Governor very naturally adopted 
the sentiments of the first class, and bore with some 
impatience the contradictions of the other, which 
was inauspicious (o that favor which he meant Iq 



1754.] 173 

cultivate with his superiors, and render consistent, if 
possible, with his popular dominion. 

The speech apprised them of the French designs ; 
of the spirit of Virginia ; of her request for aid in the 
common cause ; of the royal expectation, signified by 
the Earl of Holdernesse ; and demanded not only 
supplies for transporting two of the independent com- 
panies to Virginia, fortifying the frontiers, strengthen- 
ing Oswego, and treating with the six cantons, but 
that they should take a part in every expense condu- 
cive to the pubhc utility. 

The Assembly admitted that the defence was a 
common concern ; applauded the vigor of Virginia 
■—but complained of the desolations of the last war, 
and the expenditure of eighty thousand pounds, for a 
part of which they were still in debt and under taxes, 
and of the burthen of erecting and supporting their 
own fortifications in New- York, Albany, Fort Hunter, 
Schenectady, and Oswego; reminded him of their 
vote of credit at the last session, for one thousand 
pounds to our own Indians, and his expenses at the 
intended treaty ; declared that they are able only to 
forward the two regular companies ; and, after paint- 
ing the designs of France in terms adapted to raise 
the popular resentment, they conclude with applaud- 
ing the energy and success of his half year's adminis- 
tration : for which he thanked them, but with renew- 
ed importunities for the supplies, that they might the 
more effectually recommend the colony to the Crown. 

They then voted a thousand pounds to Virginia, 
four hundred and fifty-six pounds for an additional 
giarrison at Oswego, and allowed for Indian presents 
and the expense of the treaty, eleven hundred and 
twenty pounds : they engaged to reimburse the ne- 
cessary charge of repairing Oswego, and to bear 
their part in the erection of new forts on the frontiers 
for the common defence. But when he reminded 
them of their former resolution, to repel force by 
force, and that it had raised the expectations of the 
Crown, they evasively resolved, that it did not ap- 
pear clear to them that any of the King^s colonies were 



174 [Chap. IV. 

> 
invaded; which drew from the Lieutenant Governor 
a message to inform them, that the French forts were 
erected in a country of the Eries, a nation extirpated 
by the confederate cantons, who, by the treaty of 
Utrecht, are to be considered as the subjects of Great 
Britain; and he ventured a conjecture that the 
French forts were constructed within the limits of 
Pennsylvania.* 

They could not, however, be induced to enlarge 
their contribution to Virginia ; and had already sent 
up the bill to raise the sums voted for supplies, with- 
out any regard to the thirty-ninth instruction. The 
Council, perceiving that the sums were issuable by 
the Treasurer upon the receipts, and not by warrants 
from the Lieutenant Governor with their consent, 
asked a conference, to which, as a money bill, the 
Assembly could not consent. 

In this exigency Mr. Delancey passed the bills 
that were ready, and prorogued the Assembly till the 
next day; when, after artfully informing the whole 
province by a speech, that the Council had rejected 
their bill because they thought it their duty to insist 
on a conformity with the royal instructions, he de- 
clared his hopes that they would make the neces- 
sary provision in a manner that might lay the Coun- 
cil under no difficulty, and urged both unanimity and 
despatch. 

To this they answer in an address, asserting that 
the delay was not chargeable upon them, their bill 
being agreeably " to a method long pursued, settled 
w^ith, and solemnly agreed to, by the late Governor 



* Can there be a clearer proof of our infancy or negligence, than to find 
the Legislature at a loss to adjust a geographical question respecting a 
country so near our old maritime settlements! And does it not reflect 
disgrace upon the whole nation, that no attempt has been since made to 
explore the exterior parts of the continent, at the public expense ? We 
have added nothing to the French discoveries ])y our conquest of Canada; 
though it would have become so opulent a people to have penetrated the 
wilderness before this day, not only to determine its breadth and explore 
its wealth, but open new objects to the view of moral as well as natural 
philosophy. This has since been done by iSir Alexander M'Kenzie, from 
Canada, and by Clarke and others, by the authority of the United States, 



1754.] 175 

Clinton;" but promise, on "this pressing occasion, 
in pure regard to his Majesty's service and the inter- 
est of the country, to endeavor to frame a bill in such 
a manner as may obviate the objections lately made.*' 

And as an evidence of their concord with the Lieu- 
tenant Governor, which they doubtless wished to 
have known, they now sent him a previous copy of 
the address, for he gave it an immediate ivrittcn re- 
ply ; and proceeded, before the renovation of the bill 
of supplies, to vote the articles of which it was to 
consist, but left out the aid of one thousand pounds 
to Virginia. 

Thus a door was opened for other messages and 
addresses, for expressing his and their zeal for the 
King's service ; for, on the 4th of May, he animad- 
verted upon the resolves, and observed, that since 
they had lately voted the one thousand pounds as 
necessary, the omission of that bounty would now be 
disadvantageous to their reputation : and after hold- 
ing up the Council once more to the public, by re- 
peating that they were moved by their attachment 
to the instruction in rejecting the late bill, he be- 
seeches them to reflect " how far a delay or disap- 
pointment of this service may be chargeable upon 
them." 

The address of the same day, of which he again 
had a copy, now roundly asserts, what was only hint- 
ed at before, that the Council, and not they, are an- 
swerable for the delay ; lamented that they could 
not gratify their inclinations consistently with the in- 
terests of their constituents; denied their omission 
to be a breach of their engagement, because they do 
not estimate their contribution to Virginia among the 
promised provisions, conceiving, as they do, that they 
are not indispensably necessary : they sullenly con- 
clude with a request that they may be dismissed, to 
go home to their families. 

The Governor had now an opportunity to argue 
upon the extent of their promise, which he did in an- 
other message of the same afternoon, and with some 
seeming resentment, and a menace of representing 



176 [Chap. IV. 

their conduct to the King. But without waiting for 
the effect, as if it was calculated more to recommend 
himself to the King's Ministers than to persuade them, 
who w anted some excuse to the people for comply- 
ing with the instructions to serve him, immediately 
after that message, he passed the bills,* and broke up 
the session by a prorogation on the 4th of May. 

One design of these altercations seems to have 
been, to give the Lieutenant Governor a dominion 
over the Council, the majority of whom were not in 
the interest of that party of which he had so long 
been the leader. Before the conference proposed 
on the bill lost by the prorogation, the Lieutenant 
Governor, thinking the Council might be influenced 
by the emergency, came in amongst them, and advis- 
ed their yielding to the humor of the Assembly. One 
of them shrewdly asked him, " what then will become 
of us.''" He answered with a smile, " [ will suspend 
you, according to the instruction, and then pass the 
bill, and restore you to your places." But what con- 
founded the politician, was a proposal of Mr. Alex- 
ander and Mr. Smith, to escape the dilemma by lend- 
ing the money which the bill was to raise, on a reli- 
ance upon the generosity of the public. He left them, 
saying that he would himself make the loan, if he did 
not succeed with the House. This prorogation gave 
place for originating a second bill, which passed into 
a law. 

It was at this session that Mr. Delancey intimated 
his design of running a temporary line between this 
and the province of New-Jersey, asking the House to 
defray the expenses of it : nor is it a mean proof of 
his influence, that he in the same message requested 
a further sum for adjusting the partition with Massa- 
chusetts Bay — not by the Commissioners appointed 
by the late act, but of his own nominating, with the 
advice of the Council, who were to meet others from 



* One under the title of " An act for the payment of several sums of 
money for the use and security of this colony ;" and another, " To pre- 
vent nuisances in the mftropolis." 



the Massachusetts Bay at the intended Congress at 
Albany. 

Mr. Charles had, on the 4 th of July 1753, informed 
the speaker of the report of the Board of Trade 
against the Jersey act; that "their Lordships de- 
manded to know of the parties, whether they had any 
proposals to otTer for running the lines and ascertain- 
ing the boundaries, which their Lordships said was 
necessary to be done, for the peace and quiet of both 
governments. On both sides it is offered to join in a 
commission from thence under the Great Seal. I have 
requested that they may be disinterested persons ta- 
ken from the neighboring colonies ; but the solicitor 
for the Jersey interest thinks this method will bring 
on a heavy expense. The matter lies over for fur-« 
ther consideration. On the 23d of the same month, 
the agents of New-Jersey waited upon the Lords 
Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, and de- 
clared that, as Mr. Morris, to whom the conduct of 
the act for running the division line was committed, 
had his powers only from the proprietors of the eastp 
ern division of Jersey, he could not take upon him* 
self to join in a commission for ascertaining the boun» 
daries of the whole province. A declaration of thig 
kind was no more than what might be expected from 
those who, having missed their principal aim, would 
be well content that this affair should sleep possibly 
another thirty-four years, till some favorable juncture 
should offer for reviving it. But 1 hope I shall be ex- 
cused for offering, with all submission, my humble 
opinion, that now is the time for pushing those pro* 
prietaries in |j||eir turn." 

The reader, therefore, will perceive, that the Lieu- 
tenant Governor's message could neither disserve 
him with the Ministry nor the House; who, on the 
2.0th of April, agrf^ed with him in the expediency of 
temporary lines both with our eastern and western 
neighbors, and pledged their faith for their propor- 
tion of the expense, without the least exception to his 
change of the Commissioners in the ordinary exer- 
cise of the prerogative of the Crown. 

23 



178 [Chap. IV. 

But the late mock quarrel of the Lieutenant Go- 
vernor and the Assembly, did not entirely elude the 
suspicion that the latter had made some condescen- 
sions more to serve him than the colony: and whe- 
ther it is to the same or some other motive, that the 
agent's letter to Mr. Jones, of the 30th of January, 
17.^4, was long concealed from his fellow-members 
and the public eye, is left to the reader's conjecture. 
It was ifi this that he owned the receipt of their me- 
morable impeachment of the late Governor, and ven- 
tured some hints unfavorable to the towering hopes 
of the party in power. '•! have delivered in (says 
he) at the Board of Trade, your representation touch- 
ing the thirty-ninth article of instructions to Sir Dan- 
vers Osborn, and am very apprehensive that that 
matter will take up a long consideration, as it must 
come before the King in Council, where, at the same 
time, it is not improbable that the representation of 
the Board of Trade, touching the state of your colony, 
will likewise come under deliberation. 1 hope time 
will be given to the colony to answer the charge 
contained in the preamble of that instruction, which, 
it is said here, can be supported by facts taken from 
the public transactions of the General Assembly. I 
also apprehend that the Board of Trade will acquaint 
Mr. Clinton with the instances of his mal-administra- 
lion mentioned in that representation, and that your 
House will be called upon to prove the assertions 
they have made. It will be proper to have the proofs 
in readiness." He wrote a confidential letter of the 
same date, the contents of which can only be guess- 
ed at from Mr. Jones's answers of tli||lst of June; 
the whole of which is herewith transcribed. " la 
your private letter of the 3()th January, you inquire, 
' In case we should be called upon for our proofs 
against Mr. Clinton, how could we prove that two In- 
dian companies never existed, whose muster-rolls 
were sent home on oath .'" If such companies ever 
existed, it was certainly with uncommoti secrecy, 
yince, by the strictest inquiry, no footsteps of any 
such thing has hitherto been discovered. We should 



1754.] 179 

be glad to have copies of these muster-rolls, if possi- 
ble to be obtained, which may probably lead us to 
further discoveries. The person Mr. Clinton made 
an Assistant J ustice of, when here, and had a pre- 
sentment of perjury against, was one Israel Honey- 
well, of Westchester county; and when Mr. Clinton 
was made acquainted with it by the representatives 
of that county, he sent to the Attorney General for 
the information, and would never return it to him 
again. I am perfectly well satisfied with the reasons 
which you give for not insisting on a public hearing 
on the thirty-ninth article of the instructions ; and 
shall be very well pleased with Mr. Clinton's declin- 
ing a vindication of his conduct, as he must then 
stand condemned in the judgment of every impartial 
person. As to the alteration you suggest may be 
made to the thirty-ninth article of the instructions, it 
appears to me to be so very small, that I am persuade 
cd no General Assembly of this colony will consent 
to it even in that shape. I hope the next Governor 
that comes (in case no mitigation be made before) 
will bring with him instructions less vigorous, and 
better calculated ibr the interests of America and his 
own ease and quiet."" Thus for the first letter. The 
second, of the same date, is this :— " When I wrote to 
you last, the House was sitting, and I then acquaint- 
ed you that you might soon expect to hear from me. 
The session is now ended, and by our votes you will 
perceive that we have done nothing towards the ex- 
pedition to Ohio, though we had that affair much at 
heart. You will find that the obstruction arose from 
the thirty-ninth article of his Majesty's instructions to 
the late Sir Danvers Osborn ; and this, I apprehend^ 
will always be the case, as long as the instruction 
continues to have a being. You doubtless have al- 
ready, or soon will hear from Pennsylvania, what 
progress the French have made on the Ohio, which 
not only makes them masters of all the fur nations of 
Indians, but intimidates those which we call ours, 
and puts it into their power at any time to harass our 
southern colonies from that quarter, as they do us 



ISO {Chap. IV. 

and our eastern neighbors from Crown Point; and 
unless some vigorous resolution be taken, I fear poor 
English America will soon fall a prey to the bound- 
less ambition of France. I have very lately received 
your letters of the 30th of January,* via Philadelphia, 
and shall communicate them to the House at their 
next meeting. I expect you will hear from our Lieut. 
Governor, touching the Jersey affair of the line, and 
also from the Commissioners appointed for that pur- 
pose, touching Massachusetts Bay, Szc. I have no- 
thing further to add at present, but that the House 
{jeems to be entirely well satisfied with your conduct, 
&c. The ensuing summer will ever be remembered 
for the first Congress of Deputies from sundry of the 
colonies, for their common defence. Albany was the 
place appointed, and the time the 1 1th of June." 

Mr. Delancey, as the only Governor who attended, 
took the chair, and the rank of the gentlemen who 
composed that assembly being adjusted, they sat in 
the Ibllowing order: — on the right, Mr. Murray and 
Colonel Johnson, two of the Council members of this 
colony ; then the commissioners of Massachusetts 
Bay, Mr. Wells, Mr. Hutchinson, ColonerChandler, 
Colonel Partridge, and Mr. Worthington; Mr. Wy- 
burn, Mr. Atkinson, Mr. Ware, and Mr. Sherburn, 
from New Hampshire ; and from Rhode Island, Mr. 
Hopkins and Mr. Howard. Opposite to these, on the 
Lieutenant Governor's left, were two others of the 
New-York Council, Mr. Chambers and Mr. Smith ; 
then the Connecticut delegates. Lieutenant Governor 
Pitkin, Major Wolcott, and Colonel Williams ; for 
Pennsylvania, Mr. John Penn, Mr. Peters, Mr. Norris, 
and Mr. Franklin ; and Colonel Tasher and Major 
Barnes, for Maryland. 



* They were not disclosed to the House till the 16th of October, 1754, 
though the Assembly sat in the spring till the 4th of May, and again from 
the 20th to the 29th of August, and passed a law. IS or is it certain that 
these letters were produced even in October, the entry showing tl)at the 
speaker laid several letters before the House without mentioning their 
dates. 



I 



1754.] 181 

Mr. Delancey, on the 29th, opened the treaty with 
the Indians, who had been tardy in assembhng, by a 
speech preconcerted by the commissioners, and the 
presents were distributed in the name of all the colo- 
nies represented at that meeting. 

It is suificient to observe, on the whole, that the 
Indians, when dismissed on the I Ith of July, were, or 
affected to be, well pleased, and engaged their co- 
operation against the designs of the French ; and 
yet, one of these woodland Kings, who chalked out 
a sketch of the interior forests, rivers, and lakes, with 
a clear discernment of their relations, dropped the 
jealous but judicious observation, that Louisburgh 
was one key of the inland country, and New-York 
another, and that the power which had both, would 
open the great chest, and have Indians and all. 

The main objects of the commissioners were, a 
compact for the united exertions of all the colonies 
in future, and a representation to his Majesty for the 
establishment and execution of the plan. 

To this end it was proposed, that one general go» 
vernment should be formed, under which each colo- 
ny should retain its present constitution, except in 
the subsequent instances, directing a change : that 
the general government be administered by the Pre- 
sident General appointed and supported by the 
Crown, and a Grand Council elected by the respec- 
tive colony Assemblies : that when an act of Parlia- 
ment was passed for these purposes, the provinces 
should choose their delegates, to form the Council, in 
the following proportions : 

Massachusetts Bay ----- 7 
New Hampshire ----- 2 
Connecticut ----- 5 

Rhode Island 2 

New- York ----- 4 

New-Jersey ----- 3 

Pennsylvania - . ... 6 

Maryland 4 

Virginia - , - . - 7 

North Carolina - - - . - 4 

South Carolina - - . . - 4 — 48 



182 [Chap. IV. 

To meet first at Philadelphia, on the call of the 
President General, as soon as conveniently may be 
after his appointment : that the Council be triennial, 
and every interim vacancy, by death or resignation, 
supplied at the next sitting of the Assembly of the 
colony he represented : that after the first three years, 
the number of delegates to be regulated by their con- 
tributions to the public treasury, yet so as to be ne- 
ver less than two to a colony, nor more than seven : 
that the conventions of the Council to be annual or 
oftener, on their own adjournments, or the call of the 
President General, upon emergencies, with the writ- 
ten consent of seven, with due previous notice to all 
the members : that they choose their own speaker, 
and be neither dissolved, prorogued, nor continued to 
a longer session than six weeks, without their consent, 
or the special command of the Crown : that the wa- 
ges of the Council, be each ten shillings sterling per 
day, eundo, manendo et redeundo, at twenty miles 
for a day's journey : that the assent of the President 
General, necessary to all acts, and that it be his duty 
to carry them into execution : that he, with the ad- 
vice of the Council, hold all Indian treaties, affecting 
the general interest, and make peace or war with the 
Indians ; laws regulating the Indian trade ; all pur- 
chases, from them for the Crown, of lands not now 
within any colony, or when reduced to more conve- 
nient dimensions : that they grant out such new ac- 
quisitions, nomine regis, reserving a quit-rent for the 
general treasury ; raise and pay soldiers ; build forts ; 
equip vessels, to guard the coasts on this side of the 
ocean, lakes, and great rivers ; but not to impress 
men in any colony, without the consent of its own 
Legislature : that, for these purposes, they make laws, 
lay and levy general duties, imposts, or taxes, equal 
and just considering the ability and other circum- 
stances of the several colonies, and such as may be 
collected with the least inconvenience, rather dis- 
couraging luxury then loading industry with unneces- 
sary burdens : that they may appoint a general Trea- 
surer, and in each government a particular one ; and 



175-1.] 183 

either draw for all sums upon the general treasurj'^, or 
upon each particular treasury, as they find most con- 
venient ; yet no money to be issued but by joint or- 
der of the President General and Council, except on 
particular appropriations where the President is pre- 
viously empowered by an act : that the general ac- 
count to be annually settled and reported to ♦every 
Assembly : that the quorum, to act with the Presi- 
dent, to consist of twenty-five members, having one 
or more from a majority of the colonies : that their 
laws not to be repugnant, but as near as may be agree- 
able to the laws of England, and be transmitted to 
the King in Council for approbation; and, if not dis- 
approved within three years after presentation, to re- 
main in force : that the Speaker of the Council, on 
the death of the President, officiate in his stead, un- 
til the King's pleasure bejinown: that all military 
commission officers for the land or sea service, under 
this general constitution, be nominated by the Presi- 
dent, with the approbation of the Council ; and all 
civil officers by the Council, with the approbation of 
the President ; but a vacancy in any province, in a 
civil or military office, to be supplied by the Gover- 
nor of the province where it happened, until the 
pleasure of the President and Council can be known : 
that the military and civil establishments of the seve- 
ral colonies remain in their present state, this gene- 
ral constitution notwithstanding ; and that on sudden 
emergencies, any colony may defend itself, and lay 
the accounts of expenses thence arising before the 
President General and Council, who are to allow 
and pay as far as they judge just and reasonable. 

Except Mr. Delancey, every member consented to 
this plan, and qualified as he was rather for short al- 
tercation than copious debate, he made no great op- 
position. Besides, he had objections not to be start- 
ed before auditors of too much sagacity not to dis- 
cern the motives which excited them, and who were 
too unbiassed to suppress any disreputable and unpo- 
pular discoveries. In so unusual a situation, he was 
conscious of an awkward inferiority, and found that 



134 [Chap. lV^ 

every effort to resist the scheme only contributed to 
forward it, for his exceptions and cavil were either 
obviated, answered, or overruled. But a single mem- 
ber could be influenced, and he was not able to 
proselyte any body else, except Mr. Murray, who 
had great merit as a lawyer; but, unless a question 
in that profession arose, he was either mute as a fish 
or confused, slow and superficial: a man of pride 
withojut ambition, or a single latent for intrigue — cold, 
distant, for. rial, and disgusting. 

But the want of unanimity was of no other conse- 
quence than the impairing of Mn Delancey's reputa- 
tion ; many, judging from the controversy with Mr. 
Clinton, had conceived him to be most inclined to the 
popular branch of the constitution, but now disco- 
vered that he had his eye to the other side of the 
water. The plan adopted would be neither, as he 
apprehended, to the relish either of the nation in 
general or to the servants of the Crown. They as- 
cribed his unnecessary opposition to an impatience 
for distinction, prompted by ambition, which threw 
him off his guard. Being the only Governor, amidst 
a number of rival demagogues, his situation could not 
but be disagreeable to him. But the scheme, when 
offered, was not understood as approved by any 
other Governor on the continent. Too inconsidera- 
ble to hope for so illustrious a seat as the President's, 
they could not brook the exaltation of private citi- 
zens to stations in the grand Council, inflating their 
vanity, and enabling them not only to traverse their 
interests at court, but lessen their authority. That 
a scheme, begot in the frights of the delegates at the 
repulse of the Virginians under Colonel Washington, 
on the id of July, (the news of which came to Albany 
while they were assembled,) was disrelished by some 
of the Colonels, who perused the proposal with less 
discomposure, gave scope to their jealousies, and 
eyed the power it meant to establish, with horror; 
while multitutles of individuals jarred in their sen- 
timents, as they were more or less attached to 
monarchical or republican principles ; another sort 



UM.] > 185 

increasing the discord, by their scoffs at a model so 
dissimilar to the British constitution, which theory, 
experience, and habit had taught them to admire as 
the most perfect of all human inventions : in a word, 
their dread of the French excited the people only to 
speculate ; it did not rise high enough to curb a di- 
versity of sentiment ; and if it had, that very unanim- 
ity here would have furnished an argument on the 
other side of the Atlantic, to blast a design consider- 
ed by administration as accelerating an event dan- 
gerous to the union and stability of the empire.* 

It was in this month also, that a conference wa5 
held between Mr. Murray, Mr. Smith, Mr. Benjamin 
Nicoll, and Mr. William Livingston, under a commis- 
sion from this colony, with the aforenamed Commis- 
sioners of Massachusetts Bay, concerning the line of 
partition between the two provinces : but the result 
was littfe more than a discovery of the proofs on 
which tiiey respectively relied; a handle for fresh 
encroachments from Massachusetts Bay, and mutual 
complaints to the Crown. Massachusetts certainly 
meant nothing, for she gave powers to settle a final 
line, though pre-admonished that our Commissioners 
were to come only with authority to conclude a tem- 
porary boundary. They boasted of their prior pos- 
sessions, asserted them to be ancient, and offered to 
be restricted by the distance of sixteen miles from 
Hudson's River. 



* The plan was drafted in a committee consisting of one Commissioner 
f-om each colony. Mr. Smith represented New-York. The main object 
was to reduce the colonies to one head and one pulse. The eastern colo- 
nies were most ardent for the union, excepting Connecticut, who was too 
jealous of the power of the President. Each colony took a copy, under a 
promise to exert their influence upon their constituents for its establish- 
ment by an act of Parliament. The report gave rise to many debates, and 
especially respecting the funds for supporting this new government. A 
duty on spirits, and a general stamp duty, were conteuded for ; hut it was 
finally agreed to cast the President on the Crown, and the Council on the 
colonies, with a trifling allowance, that none but men of fortune might as- 
pire to that station. To repress Mr. Smith's earnestness for the scheme, 
the Lieutenant Governor hinted to him, that Massachusetts acted with an 
aim to procure the President's chair for their Governor, and predicted, as 
he well might, that it would not be much encouraged by New- York, 

24 



186 [Chap. IV. : 

Desirous, as soon as possible, to meet the Assem- ^ 
bly, and, besides his other designs, to make suitable ' 
impressions respecting the transactions of the Con- , 
gross, the Lieutenant Governor began a session on j 
the 20111 of August; when he mentioned the defeat i 
of Colonel Washington on the east side of the Ohio, ] 
as within the undoubted limits of his Majesty's do- \ 
minions, and exacted their promised aid to Virginia, j 
and preparation for the defence of this colony ; the ' 
erection of a fort in the Seneca's country, on the tract , 
purchased by Mr. Clarke; the prohibiting of rum to \ 
the Indians; a more extensive militia act; and laid ^ 
before them the Commissioners' plan, after a sugges- \ 
tion, that from a persuasion that the Assemblies were i 
not disposed to join in vigorous measures, the Com-; 
missioners would not consider his proposal of erect- i 
ing forts on the frontiers, but preferred an application • 
to Parliament for establishing their scheme for a . 
union. 

A contribution to the defence of Virginia and Penn- , 
sylvania, was expedient to humor the Ministry; and. 
to do it with reluctance, raised the credit of the ■ 
Lieutenant Governor, gratified the parsimonious spi-j 
lit of the people, and prevented suspicions of a sacri-^ 
fice of the colony to the interests of the predomi-* 
nant party. The House, therefore, presented an artful 
address of a controversial complexion, quoting pas-: 
sages from the Lieutenant Governor's speech, to re-: j 
fute his demands, and justify their refusal of any] 
donations. They confessed that the colonies wercj 
reciprocally bound to a common defence ; but they ■ 
add, there may be instances of colonies already so^ 
distressed as to want aid, which, therefore, are not' 
bound to afford help. To apply this, they paint their: 
own exposed situation in his own language, and ask: 
him whether Virginia and Pennsylvania have builtj 
forts a!id fortifications, and whether they are daily! 
called upon for the reparation and support of them. : 

They then promised to give something, but after- 1 
wards lament that they had an open frontier. The late^ 
i|var, in \thich they had expended near one hundreds 



1754.] 187 

thousand pounds, was a melancholy proof of it ; and 
how to find a cure to the evil, they knew not. The 
other colonies derived strength from their settle- 
ments in townships, and close order, whilst our lands 
were granted away in patents, almost without bounds 
or number; and though we could erect forts and 
block-houses, they would serve no end — uncultivated 
tracts being not the objects of protection, but man's 
life and industry. After adding their testimony, that 
he had been faithful to his trust in the distribution of 
the Indian presents, they beg leave to return to their 
families, and promise a due attention to every matter 
he had recommended in the autumn of the year. 

Would any man without doors, and not in the se- 
cret, believe, what is a fact, that they had already 
that very morning voted a gift of five thousand pounds 
to their fellow-subjects in Pennsylvania and Virginia.'* 
Mr. Delancey gave them more than thanks : he con- 
fesses the truth of their representations, and applaud- 
ing their generosity, declared his confidence that 
they would, at their next meeting, raise ample sup- 
plies ; and, by promising to promote the settlement 
of townships, converted his speech into a proclama- 
tion, which opened a wide field of business and profit 
in the Land Office; for this new method, more con- 
sistent with the spirit of democracy than the King's 
instructions, drew emigrants from the crowded colo- 
nies of New England ; and subsequent Governors, 
interested in the innovation, have followed his exam- 
ple, to the increase of our inhabitants, and the exten- 
sive diffusion of the enterprising spirit and principles 
of those eastern republics. 

The session continued untit the act for issuing the 
five thousand pounds was passed,* and a vote or two 



* We assure you it was with no small difficulty that means have been 
found for giving that sum. The Legislature find themselves so embarrass- 
ed by the forms of the instructions, that it is with the utmost difficulty any 
money can be disposed of for the public service, however urgent or neces- 
sary. Mr. Jones's letter to the agent, 29th August, 1754, was perfectly 
silent respecting the call of Congress, as Mr. Delancey had predicted. Mr. 
Smith confined at home, attending the death-bed of his wife, and Messra. 



18a [Chap. IV. 

cDtered, to stiiiiulate him in procuring temporary 
lines between tfiis and the provinces of Massachu- 
setts Bay and New-Hampshire; and another respect- 
ing their quarrel with Mr. Kennedy the Collector, 
concerning the seizure of the gunpowder, well cal- 
culated, as the cause was then depending in the Ad- 
miralty, to put Mr. Morris, the Judge of that Court, 
under some kind of awe, as well as to gain one vote 
in Council for the bill then depending there. The 
House sent a public message, to know what the 
Lieutenant Governor had done towards forwarding a 
representation to his Majesty respecting the seizure, 
and were satisfied with his answer, that the sentence 
was not yet passed, which they doubtless had alrea- 
dy known from their own counsel, w ho all resided in 
the Cfipital, and one of them, Mr. Nicoll, cousin-ger- 
man and near neighbor to Mr. Watts, a member for 
the city. This incident would be trifling, if it did not 
mark, what is worth attention, the spirit of the day.* 
When the House met again in October, they knew 
that Mr. Chief Justice Morris had left England in the 
character of Governor of Pennsylvania,t from their 
agent ; that their vote to repel force by force, on the 
Secretary of State's letter, had been universally ap- 
plauded ; that the Jersey proprietors had appealed 
to the Privy Council against the report of the Board 
of Trade ; that he had oflfered to join in a commis- 
sion for running the line; that the stations could not 
be ascertained there^ conformably to the favorite but 



Alexander and INIurray being' absent in Jersey, the Council then present 
consisted only of Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Holland, and Mr. Chambers, who 
were prevailed upon to depart from the instructions by a mode perfectly 
new. The act directed the Treasurer to pay the five thousand pounds to 
the Lieutenant Governor ; and after retaining three hundred and forty-eight 
pounds, expended in the victualling and transportation of the two indepen- 
dent companies which sailed in June, tlie residue was fo be delivered, on 
order, to the order of the Governor of Virginia, with tlie advice of his 
Council. 

* Mr. Kennc<ly was Roceiver General of the quit-rents, and had given 
some offence, by the importunity of his memorial to the Lieutenant Gover- 
nor for his reconunending a law to enforce the payment of the quit-renls. 

\ He arrived in the Mermaid frigate at New-York, on the 12th Septem- 
ber, 1754. 



1754.] 181^ 

erroneous idea of Mr. Deiancey, till the controversy 
concerning the construction of the grants, and what 
the true boundaries were, was first adjudged on a 
commission ; that this was the mode also for setting 
our eastern hmits, and that he wished to be ready 
with the names of the Commissioners of our choice ; 
that he kept a watch on the great men of that coun- 
try, respecting the affairs of the colony, but that no- 
thing was determined as to the representation ; that 
the address to the King had been sent up to the Coun- 
cil, with a letter from the Board of Trade, and that 
it would lay over till their report was made upon the 
representation ; that the Board of Trade had of late 
affected great privacy, and were so jealous of the in- 
quiries of the agents, as to give strict orders respect- 
ing information, which they think improper, and had 
got a poor Clerk dismissed from the Council Office, 
for giving intelligence about one of their reports ; 
adding, " We have here, some who have expressed 
so much warmth about the publication of the instruc- 
tion, that they will spare no pains to blacken the co- 
lony, in order, if possible, to justify that measure, 
should the affair come to a public hearing. There 
are others who, I believe, are inclinable to push the 
instruction by a more moderate course to the suc- 
ceeding Governor, and to drop the inquiry about Mr. 
Clinton's management, by directing that successor to 
report how the affair stands. The Parliament will 
be dissolved soon. Our sugar islands make a shining 
figure at present, there being about fifty persons, who, 
from their estates and connexions there, are at the 
same time using the proper means to have seats in 
Parliament. [ fear we shall soon have them pushing 
not only for the continuance, but the extension of that 
monopoly they now enjoy." Again : " I take occa- 
sion of showing how much your colony has to do at 
home, if a war is to break out, and how unable you 
are to do that, and give assistance to others, after the 
lieavy expense you have sustained in the late one ; 
that the interior system of your own government is 
unhinged by the instruction, which restrains you from 



190 [Chap. IV. 

providing the usual support, and continuing the taxes 
necessary for that end. I hope Mr. Delancey has 
touched upon this matter, because the present state 
of affairs will contribute more to get you rid of this 
restraint, than any other argument whatsoever. The 
complaint of the Virginia Assembly, about the pistole 
fee demanded by their Lieutenant Governor, was last 
week heard and rejected ; and the day after, Mr. 
Randolph, the Attorney General, who came hither 
to prosecute that complaint, was told at the Board of 
Trade, that his Majesty had no further occasion for 
his services. I am heartily sorry for the juncture of 
time in which this rejection and dismission have hap- 
pened. Much has been said about the warm votes 
of the Assembly, and their assuming a power to make 
use of public money to support their complaint. No 
nomination is made of a Governor for your colony, 
and until that is done, other matters will stop, unless 
the present exigency of affairs determines the Minis- 
try to let the Assembly proceed to provide as usual 
for the support of the colony."* 

Nor was the prospect of internal harmony so en- 
couraging to Mr. Delancey as at the commencement 
of his administration. Mr. Clinton had a few friends, 
who favored him, not so much for the sake of his 
cause, as from a jealousy that the popularity and am- 
bition of his adversary endangered personal safety, 
or obliged to an humiliating insignificance, and a 
base state of cringing submission. His accession to 
the command, induced to that partiality which was 
necessary to reward the services of his tools ; and 
the want of means to gratify the expectations of 
others, increased the number of the discontented. 
His incaution respecting the institution of the Col- 
lege, enlisted many others on that side ; and the oil 
of religious zeal being poured upon the coals, kindled 
a flame, neglected at the beginning, but in its conse- 



■ Vide Mr. Charles's letters to Mr. Jones, of the 7th and 8th March, 8th 
.April, and 27th June, 1754. 



1754.] 191 

quences destructive of liis popularity, and unfriendly 
to his repose all the rest of his life. 

When divers sums had been raised by public lot- 
teries for founding a College, they were, by an act of 
the Legislature, in November 1751, delivered over to 
the custody of a set of Trustees, consisting of the 
eldest Counsellors, the Speaker, the Judges of the 
Supreme Court, the Mayor of the metropolis, the Pro- 
vince Treasurer, James Livingston, Benjamin Nicoll, 
and WilHam Livingston, Esquires, whose trust was 
to take care of the principal and interest, and all fu- 
ture additions, until disposed of by the Legislature. 
They were afterwards empowered to draw five hun- 
dred pounds a year more, for seven years ensuing, 
out of the Treasury, into which it had flowed as a 
duty of excise ; and then they were to begin a course 
of instruction, under masters of their electing for 
their new seminary. 

Soon after the first of these acts, the Wardens and 
Vestry of Trinity Church, by Mr. Barclay their Rec- 
tor, offered a part of the estate of their opulent cor- 
poration in the suburbs of the capital, for the erection 
and convenience of the College. This was so early 
as the 8th of April, 1752; and in autumn 1753, Dr. 
Johnson, the Episcopal Minister of Stratford in Con- 
necticut, was invited to take the President's chair, 
and Mr. Whittlesey, a Presbyterian Minister of New- 
Haven, to serve under him, as second master of the 
new institution. 

The churches of other denominations soon took 
the alarm, suspecting that the Episcopal persuasion 
intended to engross the government of the College; 
and the press began daily to represent the impolicy 
and injustice of devoting funds raised by all sects for 
a common use, to the dominion of one. 

They were no longer in doubt than till the spring 
uf this year, when, on the Ibth of May, Mr. William 
Livingston discovered that his fellow-trustees were 
bent upon applying to the Lieutenant Governor for a 
charter under the Great Seal. The plan of its go- 
vernment being; exhibited in a draft then laid before 



192 [Chap. IV. 

the Board of Trustees, that gentleman protested 
against their proceeding without the authority of the 
whole Legislature, to whom they were responsible 
lor their fidelity : but the other Trustees would not 
suffer the entry till four days afterwards, on their ap- 
proving a petition which the Lieutenant Governor 
had consented to receive ; the design being avowed, 
of excluding every man from the President's chair 
who was not in communion with the Church of Eng- 
land, and introducitig the Common Prayer Book for 
the religious exercises of the College. 

The Lieutenant Governor laid this request before 
the Council for their advice, and the grant passed 
against the opinions of Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith, 
who assigned their reasons in a protest on the Coun- 
cil books. Mr. Delancey himself, who either con- 
ceived its foundation illiberal, or unfriendly to his 
popularity, after fruitless endeavors to dissuade the 
projectors from exacting the fulfilment of a promise 
they had extorted, ordered the seal to be put to the 
charter with some hesitation, and to the general dis- 
satisfaction of every other religious persuasion in the 
colony, to whom, in point of numbers, the Episcopa- 
lians did not constitute the proportion of one-tenth. 

It therefore concerned the Governor and his party, 
especially as the inquietude occasioned by the irrup- 
tion of the French and Indians upon Hosicke and 
Senkaick above Albany was general, to improve the 
ensuing session for securing the favor both of the 
Crown and the people : and the autumn session was 
therefore no sooner commenced, than two popular 
bills were introduced — one to restrain prosecutions 
by information, and another to enlarge the power of 
Justices of the Peace, by enabling them to decide in 
civil causes to the value of five pounds. 

^Vhile the Assembly were pondering how to fulfil 
their engagement before the late adjournment in Au- 
gust, Mr. Delancey urged them to several popular 
laws ; supplies for new works at Albany and the fron- 
tiers ; the discharge of the demands of public credi- 
tors, and particularly of that to Colonel Johnson, with 



1754.] 193 

whom he was reconciled. A few d?^ys afterwards, he 
made further requisitions tor purchasing a glebe, and 
erecting a church for the Missionary to the Mohawks; 
and for the Crown, proposed a law, with the spe- 
cious title of rendering the recovery of his Majesty's 
quit-rents easier, and " to compel those (says he) 
who hold large tracts of uncultivated land, to a spee- 
dy settlement ;" and, last of all, added a request for 
bedding to the troops in garrison at Albany. 

They proceeded to vote the arrears of salaries 
with the second sum of one hundred and fifty pounds 
for his extraordinary expenses at the late Indian 
treaties ; when he was obliged, on the 2 1st of Novem- 
ber, to communicate a disagreeable letter from the 
Lords of Trade, which totally disconcerted their de- 
sign of passing a bill for these debts, and compelled 
Mr. Delancey to talk a language which, from the 
mouth of Doctor Golden, would doubtless have pro- 
duced a vote that he was an enemy to the colony.* 

Their Lordships approved the Council's negative 
to the late application bill, and observed, that an 
annual revenue may be employed to the purposes of 
wresting from the Crown the nomination of all offi- 
cers whose salaries depend upon annual appoint- 
ment, and of disappointing all such services of go- 
vernment as may be necessary even to the very 
existence of the colony ; declared they were at a loss 
to conceive what other purposes this point, so stre- 
nuously insisted on, of granting the revenue only from 
year to year, can serve ; for if it is imagined that the 
method of establishing a revenue by annual grants, is 
the only one by which the province can be secured 
agaiiist misapplications on the part of the Governor, 
or other oHicers of the Grown, it will be ibund to be 



* The Speaker's letters of the 14th November and 7th December, show 
tliat there was a design of paying the debts and providing for the year, the 
instruction notwithstanding. In the first, he e.Kcites his hopes of the dis- 
charge of his demands, and a future supply ; and in the last, inlbrms him 
that the bill for paying tlic public creditors, as well as that for the annual 
support, went up, but were stopped by the Council, contrary to his expeo' 
tatious. 

25 



191 [Chap. IV . 

a mistake : that it is strict appropriation which pro- 
duces sucli security, and not the present mode of 
granting the revenue annually, which of itself is of 
no effect at all, and if directed to the above purposes, 
wfiat the Assembly themselves would not allow. 
They inform the Governor, that they have no objec- 
tions to checks and penalties for preventing and pu- 
nishing misapplications; but add, that if the Assem- 
bly persist, by the means of annual grants, either to | 
atteiiipt arresting from the Crown the nomination of ! 
officers, or any other executive part of govenmient, 
or disappointing the most essential services of the j 
province, uidess Such pretensions are complied with, | 
though they may have succeeded in such attempts, : 
either by the weakness and corruption of Governors^ or ■ 
by taking advantage of the necessity of the times: i 
" yet these attempts are so unconstitutional, so incon- i 
sistent with the interests of the mother country, as • 
well as of the Crown, and so little tending to the real ] 
benefit of the colony itseli!, that it will be found they ; 
flatter themselves in vain, if they imagine they can i 
ever give them a stability and permanency. 1 hope, ', 
therefore, (continued Mr. Delancey,) you will take i 
these weighty reasons into your most serious consi- i 
deration, and provide a permanent revenue for the \ 
support of government, in such a manner as may put \ 
an end to any dispute on that head." But he had it i 
also in charge to inform them, that he could no longer i 
consent to any emissions of paper money as a legal ; 
tender, nor to any bill for this species of money, , 
though no tender, without a suspending clause till i 
the King's pleasure could be known ; and he desires ^ 
the House to conform to these directions. , 

If he knew at that time, of the ill success of their ; 
address against Mr. Clinton, his reasons for conceal- i 
jng it are obvious.* ' 



* Mr. Charles's account of it ( 15th November) is this: — '• Observing 1 
that your Honorable Flouse have not received any notification in form of . 
^hejr address to the King in December last, transmitted by the Lieutenant i 
povernor. I think it consistent with mv dutv. and the attention 1 owe to j 



1754.] 



395 



This produced an address, disclaiming all inten- 
tion to abridge the Executive, though they would not 
recede from the new mode ; and a declaration, that 
they could not construct torts without a further emis- 



whatever proceeds from the General Assembly, to inform you that his Ma- 
iesty has been pleased, by his Order in C^ouncil of the 6th of August, to 
reject the said address, upon a representation of the Lords Commissioners 
for Trade and Plantations, who have undertaken to verify the charge 
ag^ainst the colony, contained in the 39th article of instructions to the late 
Sir Danvers Osborn, Baronet. I am sorry to find that their Lordships have 
been pleased to apply the words falsely and maliciously ^ made use of in 
your said address, to their representation of the state and condition of the 
colony, instead of applying tliem to the suggested matter and supposed 
facts upon which that representation is thought to be founded, and against 
which you have desired to be heard — for this I taiie to be the obvious 
meaning and intention of your House in the use of those words." It was 
about this time that INTr. Charles framed a case for Doctor Hay's opinion 
respecting the instruction, preparatory to his design of complaining of the 
offensive instruction in a petition to the King; but it cannot be ascertain- 
ed that it was ever carried into execution. It is, however, here transcrib- 
ed, to gratify the curiosity of the reader. 

" Case of J^ew-York. — Be pleased to peruse the speech, instructions, 
and address, contained in the printed votes of the Assembly of his Majes- 
ty's colony of New-York in America, the representation of the said Assem- 
bly, and the address to the King. 

" New-York is one of the most considerable of the British colonies on 
the continent of North America, under the immediate government of the 
Crown. This colony belonged formerly to the Dutch, and, with a large 
tract of land, was called New Netherland, which, in exchange for Suri- 
nam, was, by the treaty of Bredu in 1667, surrendered by the Dutch to the 
English. 

" All the British colonies, or most of them, have in them three distinct 
estates, in humble imitation of the excellent constitution of their mother 
country — viz. a Governor, the representative of the King ; a Council, 
which is legislative; and hkewise a Court of Judicature, resembling im- 
perfectly the House of Lords, and a General Assembly, or House of Re- 
presentatives, resembling imperfectly the House of Commons. The Go- 
vernor is appointed by the King ; has a power of calling, proroguing, or 
dissolving the General Assembly, and has a negative in all laws which, 
having passed the Council and Assembly, are presented to him. The Coun- 
cil are appointed by the King, and, with the Governor, form a Council of 
State, are assistant Judges to him, as Chancellor, and in the Court of Ap- 
peal. As a legislative body, they sit distinctly, and without the Governor, 
on all bills that either originate with themselves, or are sent up to them 
from the Assembly. The General Assembly, the free election of the peo- 
ple, chjose their own speaker and officers; are judges of their own elec- 
tions; prepare and pass bills in order to be sent up to the Council; and 
claim a right that all money bills should originate with themselves. 

" The manner of providing for the support of government in this colony, 
which has obtained for sixteen years past, has been thus : — In September, 
yearly, (if the House is permitted to sit,) the Assembly prepare and pass a 
bill, whereby provision is made for the usual yearly salaries to the Gover- 
nor, to the Judges, and other officers and ministers of the government, for 



196 [Chap. IV. 

sion of paper, nor would they consent to that, unless 
those bills were made a legal tender. They thei'e- 
fore request him to represent the case of the colony 
to the King ; engage to provide for its defence, when 



the ensuing^ year. At tliis season also, all claims and demands upon the 
colony beinj received, examined, and reported npon by the committee, 
Tfho proptre their bill. Provision is likewise made for tlie discharge of 
those demands ; these liquidated and settled ; and the Treasurer of the co- 
lony is by tliesaid bill directed and empowered to pay the said salaries and 
debts to the respective persons named in the said bill, which having passed 
the Assembly, is sent up to the Council, and if passed by them, is sent up 
to the Governor, and if passed by him, becomes a law of the colony, sub- 
ject only to tile disallowance or repeal of the King. 

'' Tlie credit of the colony stands unimpeached, and, in point of merit 
with the mother country, comes short of none of her colonies, particularly 
in tlie late war; and for seconding the views of the Crown in the reduc- 
tion of Cape IJrcton and Canada, they raised about fifty thousand pounds 
sterling, without desiring, as other colonies have dune, any reimbursement 
from the Parliament of Great Britain. 

" Governor Clinton, the immediate predecessor of Sir Danvers Osborn, 
took his salary annually, during the whole course of his administration, in 
the method before mentioned. It is true, that after having thus accepted 
of it about four years, he endeavored to have it settled upon him for a term 
of years, as had actually been done npon several of his predecessors; but 
the Assembly persisted in the refusal of it: whereupon, and upon sundry 
otlier disputes which have arisen between Mr. Clinton and several Assem- 
blies of the colony, a representation to his Majesty in Council was drawn 
up by the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, ' whereof the 
agent of the colony could never obtain a copy, having received for answer 
to his application, that it was a matter of stale.' .So that the colony has 
neither been made acquainted with the particular facts alleged against 
their General Assemblies, nor have they been heard in their own defence. 

" Sir Danvers Osborn succeeding to Governor Clinton, carried out with 
him the said 39th article of instruction ; but dying soon after his arrival in 
the colony, that administration devolved upon James Delancey, Esquire, 
his Majesty's Lieutenant Governor, who, with his speech to the Assembly, 
laid before them the said instruction. 

" Be pleased to understand, that the King has been advised to reject the 
address of the Assembly, by an Order in Council of the 6th of August, 
whereof a copy is not to bo obtained: whereupon jour opinion is desired, 
previously upon the legality and tlie propriety of the agent's address, in- 
tended to be sent to the King; then upon the following points relative to 
the 39th instruction: — 

'' 1st. Whether tlie natural born subjects of the King, in the British 
American colonies, are not entitled to the rights, liberties, and freedom of 
English subjects? 

*' 2d. Whether the people, by their representatives in General Assem- 
bly, are bound to obey the directions of the Crown, signified in the com- 
mission and instructions to a Governor, which, though a rule to him for his 
conduct, is not understood to be to the people the measure of their obe- 
dience ? 

" 8d. Whether positive law only, be not to the people tlie only rule of 
that obedience? 



1754.] 197 

he is unembarrassed by instructions ; and give him 
their promise to provide for erecting a fort to the 
northward of Albany. 

The Governor, in the reply, professes his satisfac- 
tion in their assurances that they mean no encroach- 
ments on his Majesty's authority; and gliding ten- 
derly over their answer, only asks whether the annual 



" 4th. Whether a command to grant money, and that too in the particu- 
lar manner prescribed by this instruction, and not otherwise, is constitu- 
tional and legal on the principles of British liberty and government? 

" 5th. Whether this instruction doth not destroy the freedom of debate 
essential to the constitution of an Assembly, in whom the Crown admitted 
the power of preparing and passing bills for granting money ? 

" 6th. Whether the said instruction doth not destroy the like freedom of 
debate in the Legislative Council of the colony, subjecting them like- 
wise, for the exertion of that freedom, to punishment by dismission ? 

" 7th. Whether the power given to the Governor over the Counsellors 
by this instruction, doth not destroy a balance in the state necessary to be 
maintained between the Governor and the people ? 

" 8th. Whether the order to remove or suspend any Counsellor, or any 
member of Assembly, holding a place of trust and profit, or any officer of 
the government, because of voting contrary to the direction of this instruc- 
tion, is compatible with British liberty and a British constitution ? 

"■ 9th. Whether the power of punishing for lessening or impairing the 
prerogative, is not a very unlimited power, and may be subject to very 
great abuse ? 

" And in general, what are your sentiments touching the legality of this 
instruction. 

" In general, I am of opinion tiiat the address of the agent, intended to 
be presented to his Majesty, is legal, and highly expedient; and that the 
39th instruction is a most ill-advised and intemperate measure, and subject 
lo the several objections mentioned in the queries. 

" (Signed) GEORGE HAY, 

Doctors' Commons.'''' 

Mr. Charles, on the 1 9th December, appeared before the Lords of Trade, 
at their call upon the agents, to show their authority, and he in particular 
was asked, whether he considered himself as obliged to correspond with the 
Governor of the colony, or to receive directions from him ? His answer 
was, that "he had, in matters of public moment, several times addressed 
himself to the Governor, and was always re^.dy to receive and consider his 
commands." He then moved to know what was done on the Assembly's 
representation of the last year. Was answered, " that it lay before them, 
and would be considered upon the appointment of a Governor: that the 
aim of their Board was to bring the province back to its ancient method of 
raising and issuing money ; and ihey had lately explained themselves fully 
in their letters to the Lieutenant Governor, and that it remained with the 
Assembly to do their part." " I then (continues Mr. Charles) took my 
leave of their Lordships, after saying, that it could not but very sensibly 
affect New-York to find a measure of this nature confined to them singly, 
while all the King's governments on the same continent were permitted to 
provide for themselves by annual support." Letter to the Speaker^ ^Ofh 
December, 1754. 



198 [Chap. IV. 

support will not have the effect apprehended ; joins 
in their testimony that there can be no forts without 
issuing more bills ; informs them of what they well 
knew, that the late act of Parliament against the pa- 
per raouoy in the eastern colonies, was made at the 
instances of the London merchants, injured by depre- 
ciations for want of funds to cancel the emission ; 
subjoins, what the Assembly should have witnessed, 
that the value of our bills, by our superior care, was 
not such as they fiad been elsewhere, nine for one; 
and, upon the whole, proposed an emission of forty 
thousand pounds, for fortifications, to be sunk by a 
tax of five thousand pounds per annum, commencing 
in 1757, when the present taxes were to cease; and 
to such a bill he will consent, if there is a clause in- 
serted to make the paper no valid tender for a debt 
contracted in Great Britain. 

It required some courage to venture this hint; for 
the merchants in the British trade were instantly 
alarmed with the prospect of ruin, through the scar- 
city of silver and gold to discharge their immense 
debts : but their clamors w^ere suddenly appeased 
by a set of resolves — that laws with suspending 
clauses, might expose the colony to ruin before the 
King's pleasure could be known ; that bills not ten- 
derable, would be useless; and that to make them 
a tender to some and not to others, would create con- 
fusion, and be injurious to commerce. 

Unable to pass any bills for raising money, they 
contented themselves with resolves, engaging for the 
salaries of the officers; and to put into Mr. Delan- 
cey'« hands the old allowance of four hundred 
pounds, for fuel and candles for the indepetident com- 
panies, though two of them had been drawn away to 
Virginia, and the rest to Oswego ; for when Captain 
King arrived in a few days after the session, to take 
the command of the Governors company, with Mr. 
Pitzar the Commissary, they found only a sergeant 
and eleven privates at New-York, with but three 
good muskets, and not an ounce of powder in the 
magazine : and the two sentinels at the Lieutenant 



1751.] 199 

Governors door, during the sitting of the Congress at 
Albany, were relieved by others who came from the 
fort, without firelocks. But though there was now a 
saving of the Chief Justice's salary of three hundred 
pounds a year, and an augmentation of fifty to Mr. 
Chambers on that account, yet nothing was added 
to their former vote of one hundred pounds to the 
third Judge, who had deserted the party, and made 
his peace with Mr. Clinton, and been restored to his 
office, 2Hth of July, 1753, on the future tenure of good 
behavior, and who was therefore out of the reach of 
their resentment in any other way than by diminish- 
ing his support.* 

There was a necessity at this juncture, that the 
members of the Assembly should be vigilant of their 
interests. 

The conduct of the College Trustees, and the 
scheme to give the Episcopalians a pre-eminence in 
the government of the institution, had given umbrage 
to all the other sectaries, and compelled the House 
to attend to their clamors. To this end, soon after 
their meeting, they ordered the Trustees to report 
their transactions under the act by which they had 
been appointed ; and the same day, the Ministers, 
Elders, and Deacons of the Low Dutch, an ancient, 
opulent, and enchartered Church, presented a peti- 
tion, implying that the College ought to be incorpo- 
rated by an act of the Legislature, and insisted that 
provision might be made in it for a Professor of their 
numerous denomination. 

The Trustees came up on the first of November, 
and the contrariety of sentiment amongst them ap- 
peared in two separate reports, Mr. William Living- 
ston offering one, and Mr. James Livingston and Mr. 
Nicoll another. They were no sooner read, than the 



* The House had some time before voted Mr. Chambers two hundred 
pounds for the last year's salary ; but after the message on the letter from 
the Lords of Trade, but one hundred and fifty pounds, with fifty pounds 
more on consideration of the present burden of the oflBce, without express- 
ing anv vacancy in the chief seat of instice. 



200 [Chap. IV. 

House became divided upon a motion to enter both 
of them at large on the journals of the House, which 
was carried by a considerable majority. The capi- 
tal then in the hands of the Trustees, exclusive of the 
annual revenue of five hundred pounds from the ex- 
cise, was five thousand four hundred and ninety-seven 
pounds, fourteen shillings and sixpence. When the 
reports were considered, the Assembly resolved, nem. 
con.<f " that they would not consent to any disposition 
of the monies raised by way of lottery, for erecting 
and establishing a College within this colony for the 
education of youth, or any part thereof, in any other 
manner whatsoever than by act or acts of the Legis- 
lature of this colony, hereafter to be passed for that 
purpose." And Mr. Robert Livingston, who repre- 
sented the manor of that name, immediately had 
leave to bring in a bill to establish and incorporate 
a College, which he introduced that very afternoon. 

The scheme opened by this bill, puzzled every 
branch of the Legislature. There was no hope of its 
passing either the Council or the Lieutenant Gover- 
nor, not only from its repugnancy to their own reli- 
gious attachments, as members of the Episcopal 
Church, but because it subverted the establishment 
they had given it by letters patent in the name of the 
Crown. By the Assembly it could not be rejected 
from their dread of the people, nor passed consist- 
ently with their party prejudices. In this dilemma, 
Mr. Walton found them a door of escape, by a mo- 
tion that the committee to whom it was referred be 
discharged, the consideration of the bill postponed 
to the next session, and in the interim printed tor the 
opinion of their constituents. It was introduced with 
observing, ^ that the subject was of the utmost con- 
sequence to the people they had the honor to repre- 
sent, with respect both to their civil and religious li- 
berties ;" and that the advanced season of the year 
did not give time to consider all the parts of the bill 
with that attention its vast importance required.* 



* It may be seen at large, with Mr. William Livingston's reasons, in the 
journals of the Assembly. The bill >va^ drafted by Mr. Scott, for insti- 



; 1754.] 201 

This measure increased the jealousies abroad, es- 
pecially when it was observed that the House after- 
wards set another lottery on foot; negatived a mo- 
tion of Mr. Livingston's, to postpone the second read- 
ing of the bill for it to the next meeting, and another 
for a deposit of the money, till applied by a future 
law ; and carried a third for striking out a clause for 
enacting that any member, for moving to apply the 
sum to be raised by it for any other than the use of 
the College, should be expelled. 

Though fully premonished by the agent, that the 
controversy with New-Jersey would not terminate, 
unless by the adjudication of a Court of Commission- 
ers constituted by the Crown, and urged by memori- 
als and proofs of the distressed condition of the peo- 
ple on the borders ; yet, from an obstinate attach- 
ment to the opinion, that the stations from and to 
which the dividing line was to be run were clear, or 
to protract the controversy, an act was now passed 
to submit it to the King, and a vote entered as a se- 
curity for a moiety of the expense.* " An act is pass- 
ed," says the Speaker in his letter of the 7th Decem- 
ber, "• submitting the dispute to his Majesty soldi/, 
which we know will bring that matter to a speedv 
issue." 

The act to regulate informations for offences pro- 
secuted in England by the Clerk of the Crown Office, 
was a very popular law, though it much offended 
the then Attorney General,! who had excited the 
disgust of some merchants of distinction, by lending 
too easy an ear to trifling complaints, and informers 
of very sliglU characters. 

The English statute of the 4th k 5th William and 
Mary, cap. xviii., made no invasion upon the rights 



tuting an Uuiversity upon liberal principles, on a provincial endowraenl, 
as free as possible from iall the contracted aims, prejudices, and partialit}' 
of sectarian zeal. 

* His Majesty repealed this act; and, by an instruction of the 12th of 
August, 1755, required a law to provide for the expense of executing- u 
commission, under the Great Seal of Great Britain. 

■i- Mr. Kempe, who, with his family, arrived here 2d November, 175'?. 

26 



202 [Chap. lA . 

of the King's Attorney General, lor it affected only 
the Master of the Crown Office. But this act, since 
we had no such officer, was meant to bind the Attor- 
ney General, whenever he proceeded for such offen- 
ces, as the Master might prosecute in England, and 
was therefore uriskiliully drawn, unless it abridged 
the confideiice reposed by law in the Attorney Ge- 
neral ; and if it did so. the Crown was in some mea- 
sure affected as well as its Attorney, whose emolu- 
ments, by a lau withdrawing confidence in his 
prudence and integrity, for slighting frivolous appli- 
cations, were greatly abridged : for, according to the 
design of this act, no information for misdemeanors 
prosecutable by the Master of the Crown Office, 
could be instituted, but at the risk of costs to the de- 
fendant unless it w;»s filed by order of the Governor 
and Council, or the Judges of the Supreme Court, or 
where the Court shall certify that there was reason- 
able cause lor the prosecution. The security requir- 
ed, is rarely adequate to the charge of the defence. 
But it is a much more material fault in legislation, 
to leave it doubtful when Mr. Attorney proceeds as 
such, or as Master of the Crown Office. It was ad- 
judged by Messrs. Delancey and Horsmanden. Octo- 
ber Term. 1756, in the case of Gomez and idii ads. 
Dom. Regis., that the informer, if bound for the costs, 
is no witness on the trial to prove the assault. &c. 
upon himself nor his wife. The counsel for the de- 
fendants cited S\\. Evidence, 121, 122. Trials per 
p. 126. 1 Sid. 337. Hard. 331. 

Kempe, Attorney General, hiterested witnesses 
are received, where necessary. Per Curiam. The 
objection is unanswerable. The prosecutor is evi- 
dently interested, and the wife by necessary conse- 
quence. Since the statute of William and Mary, of 
which our act is nearly a copy, a nominal prosecu- 
tor is named in the iFiformation, to elude this very 
objection. The defendants were acquitted. 

The King's Bench will not give leave to file such 
informations, on the application of the Attorney, as 
he may bring ex officio : those cases are not within i 



i754.J 203 

the statute. 3 Biir. 1565. To ^ive the intended effi- 
cacy to this act of Assembly, the Court should with- 
hold the order in every instance vvh -re the prosecu- 
tion in England belongs to the Crowa Oifice. 

The five pound act introduced and p issed, was a 
favorite law of the Lieutenant Governors, for it aug- 
mented his influence in every part of the colony. 
The profits of the Justices of Peace, who were all 
of the Governor's appointment, and generally nomi- 
nated by the members of the country, now rendered 
that employment more lucrative, and tied together 
the links of corruption between the election jobbers 
and the Assemblymen, and between the latter and 
the Governor, and formed a chain of dependence to 
which the ruling party did not object, especially as 
the act was only limited to four years, and might be 
afterwards dropped or renewed, according to the 
expediency of the hour. But experience has shown, 
what was obvious enough in theory, that those mis- 
chievous consequences of these contemptible, sum- 
mary, and disorderly jurisdictions, have greatly over- 
balanced the delay and expense assigned as the 
motives for this innovation, as will more particularly 
be observed upon the opposition to the continuation 
of this dangerous policy in a subsequent administra- 
tion. 

Mr. Delanccy hesitated several months before he 
consented to take the Chancellor's oath ; and at the 
beginning of the next year, held a Court of Errors, to 
the gratification of those who thenceforth were con- 
firmed in the opinion, that by the incompatibility 
between his old and new employment, his office of 
Chief Justice was extinct. That ascendency, there- 
fore, which he had acquired as an independent de- 
magogue, now began to abate, and his conduct, like 
other Governors, to be suspected, as meditating ra- 
ther his own and the advancement of the interests of 
the Crown, than the security of tlie rights of the peo- 
ple; and it was his misfortune, that the first adju- 
dication in Error riveted these unfavorable suspi- 



204 [Chap. IV. 

A bill of exceptions had been taken on a trial at 
Bar to the opinion of the Bench, and execution sus- 
pended bj a writ of Error, returnable before the 
Lieutenant Governor and his Council. The question 
above was, whether the writ ought not to be quash- 
ed, the King, by one of the instructions, having per- 
mitted appeals to them, where the quantum in litiga- 
tion was upwards of three huiidicd pounds sterling. 
The verdict in the present case was for a less sum; 
but the counsel of Bryant, the plaintiff in Error, for 
the retention of his cause, insisted that the writ of 
Error was a writ of right ; that, according to the re- 
cord, manifest error had intervened ; that the Gover- 
nor and Council had been long in possession of the 
power to redress the errors of the Supreme Court; 
that this authority was part of the colony constitu- 
tion ; that though it originated by, yet it did not de- 
pend, any more than the Supreme Cou! t. upon the 
royal instructions ; that the existence of such a Court 
of Errors was essential to the due administration of 
justice in the colony ; that though the Court of the 
Governor and Council would not prescribe for their 
right to take cognizance in error, as the House of 
Lords did in England, it stood nevertheless upon the 
principles of necessity and utility, which had given 
birth to the prescriptive right of the peers, and that 
it was their duty to hold, and as far as possible am- 
plify, their jurisdiction; that the authority could not 
be legally abridged or altered at the pleasure of the 
Crown ; that had the instruction the efficacy of a law, 
yet speaking only of appeals, a term known in the 
civil law, it could not relate to relief in a course of 
Error, according to the common law ; that it had 
never been duly promulgated, and was therefore not 
binding upon the subject; that the writ of Fjror was 
itself a commission under the Great Seal to the Lieu- 
tenant Governor and the Council, posterior to the 
instruction, and for that rea'son their authority was 
not affected by the latter; and, lastly, that unless the 
judgments of the Supreme Court were reversible in 
this way, they were so in no other, and the J udges. 



1755.] 205 

consequently, had an uncontrollable, absolute, and 
formidable despotism over the property of the sub- 
ject, in all cases under three hundred pounds ster- 
ling — an authority dangerous to the colony and all 
suitors in it, not trusted by the constitution to any 
Court in England. 

The hearing upon this popular doctrine was on 
the 27111 of March, 5 7.55, and the d.ci-^ion to over- 
rule all the objections and quash the writ, agreeably 
to the King's order, without entering into any in- 
quiry on the merits of the bill of exceptions. The 
only satisfaction of the counsel for the plaintiff in Er- 
ror, (of whom the author was one,*) arose from a dis- 
cernment that the whole Court was conscious of a 
timid obsequiousness ; and the Lieutenant Governor 
and Mr. Murray, more anxious than others, contra- 
vened the doctrine they had endeavored to iyculcate 
in that opinion, which the latter had delivered upon 
honor to the Assembly, to support the Court of Ex- 
chequer, in the year i734. 

Before this determination, Mr. Delancey and the 
Council had fallen under some degree of odium. The 
undistinguishingmultiiude were alarmed at the pros- 
pect of a war, and the defenceless condition both of 
our sea-coasts and inland frontiers. It was to still 
these clamors that the Council advised, and the Lieu- 
tenant Governor issued, an unusual proclamation, on 
the 10th of January, under his private seal, calling 
the Assembly to meet on the 4th of February, though 
they were under an adjournment to the second Tues- 
day in March. 

He informed them of the armament coming out 
with General Braddock, for the expulsion of the 
French from the Ohio ; urged them to fortify the co- 
lony; advised to a more compulsory regulation of 
the militia, and to an attention to the Indians ; and 



^'- With Mr. William Livingston and Mr. Scott. Mr. Nicoll, for O- 
briant the defendant in Error, on a motion for quashing the writ, had a 
«vrit nid cause To which we plead on the 26th December, 1754. 



206 [Chap. IV. 

said, " he flattered himself that they would not risk 
losing their all by an ill-timed parsimony." 

During the consternation, the proclamation, (not- 
withstanding a perfect concert took place between 
all the three branches for disregarding the royal in- 
structions, and in a few days they emitted forty-five 
thousand pounds in bills of credit, to be sunk by a 
tax,) prohibited supplies of provisions to the French 
colonies, and subjected the militia to such duties and 
penalties as the Executive thought fit to prescribe, 
but to screen the Assemblymen, the militia act ori- 
ginated with the Council. 

At this juncture, Mr. Shirley dispatched his envoys 
to animate the colonies to the project he had long 
meditated for exterminating the French from the 
north continent of America. 

This gentleman was colleague to Mr. Mildmay for 
adjusting the contests in America, left unsettled by 
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and in the conference 
with the French commissioners at Paris, became jea- 
lous that France had the ambitious aim of subjecting 
all the northern parts of the new world to her domi- 
nion. Then it was, that he conceived the idea of mak- 
ing a conquest of Canada. He proposed the design 
on his return to Mr. Pelham, but was silenced by the 
pacific and economical maxims of that minister, and 
ordered out to his government, from whence he never 
ceased his complaints, to excite administration to 
some vigorous exertions. The ministry were at length 
compelled to listen to his suggestions, by the accom- 
plishment of his predictions, and letters were now 
written, by Sir Thomas Robinson, (Mr. Pelham be- 
ing dead,) apprising all the provinces of their dan- 
ger, of which Mr. Shirley made a good use. 

To this colony he sent Mr. Thomas Pownal, who 
was trusted with the secret before communicated to 
the Assembly of the Massachussetts Bay, under the 
tie of an oath. Canada was to be threatened on the 
side of the Kennebec and the Lakes Champlain and 
Ontario, while Braddock's two regiments with the 



1755.] 207 

Southern aid, were to penetrate and reduce the 
French Forts on the Ohio.* 

Pownal found Mr Delancey and his party rather 
cold and backward, and applied himself to a party 
who from various causes were become so consider- 
able as to inspire the Lieutenant Governor with some 
awe, and especially as their views corresponded with 
the recommendations of the ministry. 

The Lieutenant Governor, therefore, soon after 
Mr. Braddock's arrival, sent a message to the Assem- 
bly, on the 26th of March 1755, pressing for supplies 
to quarter troops and impress carriages &c. and ap- 
prised them of the precarious condition of Oswego, 
where the garrison were exposed to want by the non- 
payment of their debt to Sir William Johnson, who 
had contracted to subsist them. 

Having communicated to them at the same time 
Mr. Shirley's letters, the Council called for a com- 
mittee from the lower house, to hear Mr. Pownal's 
explanation, and the joint committee immediately re- 
solved, "• Ihat the scheme was well concerted, and 
that if Massachusetts would raise fourteen hundred 
men, we ought to tind eight hundred, and they 
agreed to contribute to a general fund for the com- 
mon charge of the war. . 

Unfortunately the necessary preparations were sus- 
pended for Mr. Braddock's approbation of t, «^ plan. 
Mr. Shirley was piqued at this delay, for no act was 
passed; but the house after three days adjourned, till 
the General's opinion could be obtained at a con- 
gress, to which he had called several of the Gover- 
nors at Alexandria. 

That convention t was held on the i4th of April, 
and when Mr. Delancey returned, urged the Assem- 
bly on the 23d of that month to proceed ; informing 
them, that General Braddock had consented to the 

* Mr. Shirley's letter was communicated to the council of New-York 
10th March 17o&, and Mr. Pownal introduced four days after to explain 
and enforce the project. 

f Governor Shirley took his route on Long Island, and passed through 
tlie village of Flat Bush on the 6th uf April. Mr. Delancey, with Jiis bro- 
ther Oliver and others, followed the day after. 



20y [Chap. IV. 

plan, and the next day, tlie Assembly resolved and 
soon after passed bills, for levying eight hundred 
men, to act on the side of Crown point, to impress 
artificers for constructing boats, &c. and to prevent the 
exportation of provisions to the French. 

After these became laws, Mr. Delancey on the 2d 
of May adjourned the house to the 20th, and then to 
the 27th. when he further informed them, that Con- 
necticut had agreed to supply three of the eight 
companies at our expense, and that he had sent to 
Virginia for the necessary arms for the whole eight 
hundred; that more forts would be necessary on 
Hudson river, and a large vessel in the Lake, (St. Sa- 
crament, since Lake George) ; that it was agreed at 
Alexandria to make presents to the India.ns, and that 
money ought to be applied for that purpose, and for* 
the expenses of Mr. Johnson, the Commander in Chief 
of the provincial troops, against Crown Point, suit- 
able to his rank of Major General. 

The Assembly, proceeding upon the plan of the 
late Congress at Albany, for apportioning the aids of 
the colonies, voted fifty pounds towards artificers for 
constructing forts. One hundred and seventy four 
pounds ten shillings and eleven pence a^ their propor- 
tion of eight hundred pounds sterling, for Indian pre- 
sents. Eighteen hundred for arming their levies, and 
engaged for their proportion towards a vessel on the 
lake. A bill was set on foot for the payment of the 
necessary services of the Crown Point expedition, 
and clauses ordered to be inserted to pay the Lieu- 
tenant Governor, two hundred pounds for his journey 
to Virginia, and twenty-two pounds more to his bro- 
ther Oliver, who went to Connecticut, to obt:iin three 
hundred men towards accomplishing our levies in 
that colony, and for his diligent and faithful services 
there, he had the thanks of the house. But before 
any further progress was made the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor adjourned them on the last of iVIay, to the 
10th of June, when he informed them, that he had pro- 
cured arms from Virginia for six hundred of their men; 
that a severe law was necessary to obstruct the sale of 



1755.] 209 

rum to, and purchases oti arms trom the Indians ; that 
a reimbursement was required for a present to them 
of Indian corn, and that drafts from the Militia were 
expedient towards completing the levies. This 
message contained the following clause : " In the 
quotas to be settled for the contingent charges which 
may arise, none of the colonies ought at present to 
be considered but such as are engaged in the expe- 
dition, lest the service should suffer by it, or by too 
minute a calculation. The proposed expedition is 
of such consequence, that it ought not to be retarded 
by any light consideration." 

On the seventeenth of June, he calls upon them for 
two thousand pounds, as a fifth of the expense of the 
train. Repeats his request towards General John- 
son's expenses. A supply of their proportion to- 
wards Indian presents. Provision for a Quarter 
Master to be appointed by himself, and applauds the 
former evidences of their zeal. 

Two days after they agreed to give two thousand 
pounds towards the train; four hundred and fifty 
pounds to the Indians ; fifty pounds to General John- 
son for his table, as much to the Colonel of their own 
regiment ; thirty pounds to the Major, and four shil- 
lings a day to one of the Officers serving as Quarter 
Master. 

The Council afterwards sent the lower house a bill, 
against the exportation of provisions, stores of war, 
&;c., and in the second reading of it, the Lieutenant 
Governor adjourned them again to the tw^entieth of 
June for four days. 

Mr. Kennedy, the Receiver General, carried 
through his quit-rent bill at this session, but it excited 
resentment, and the house on the twenty-fifth of 
June, desired to know from the Lieutenant Governor 
what had been done respecting the powder he had 
seized as the King's Collector ; adding, " that it will 
be impracticable to keep any gunpowder for the use 
of the colony, if it be liable to be thus arbitrarily 
seized and taken out of the custody of the officer, 
under pretence of being unlawfully imported." He 



210 [Chap. IV. I 

replied, th<it the affair (as he took it,) rested with the ! 
lawyers, and promised to give directions to quicken \ 
the proceedings ;* and the same day they sent him a ' 
message, desiring him, as Mr. Shirley was hourly ex- ; 
pected, '' to use his utmost endeavours to settle with \ 
him all matters relating to the Crown Point expedi- | 
tion, that the same may not be retarded for want of 
any articles necessary for carrying on the said expe- i 
dition." 

The Lieutenant Governor laid before them on the \ 
fourth of July, a request from Boston, that prepara- j 
tion might be made by this colony for an addition to j 
the troops. They only voted that they would augment j 
their aid if it was necessary ; and after adding sundry \ 
clauses for further expenditures, sent up the bill to | 
provide for the services, on the fifth of July, which i 
the Council read thrice and sent up to the'Governor, 
who passed it the very same day it came up from the \ 
Assembly, and he then adjourned them to the twenty- > 
second of that month. 

The people of the Massachusetts Bay, taking the ^ 
advantage of the common distress, were now making ■ 
new inroads upon the colony. The scattered farm- ; 
ers on the eastern borders, unable to resist the large \ 
bands of intruders who came upon them by surprise, ' 
had their property despoiled, and were themselves \ 
carried off to distant jails, and harassed by the de- , 
mand of extravagant bail. The pretext for these ' 
violences, besides a proclamation to apprehend the ' 
intruders, was a letter to Governor Shirley from Mr. i 
Delancey, declining their proposal of last winter of 
having the decision of their controversy, relating to 
the partition, to disinterested referees ; but early in i 
the spring, a committee under that government pro- 
tected by men in arms, began surveys for towns west , 
and north-westward from Sheffield, and within twelve 
or fourteen miles of Hudson's River. These transac- ; 



* Mr. Kennedy did not succeed entirely to his wish. To the bill there 
were many popular clauses, for the Assembly would not impose any rent 
upon the old patents that had been free from them before- 



1755.] 211 

lions were reported to Mr. Delancey, by persons who 
conferred with the committee both at Sheffield and 
Springfield, in a letter of the twenty-ninth of May, 
and his silence at this session upon a subject so inter- 
esting to the proprietors of the manors of Livingston 
and Renselaerwyck, as well as many others in the 
north country, who beheld the rapid growth and as- 
piring spirit of their eastern neighbours, administered 
to censure and discontent. It is some proof, if our in- 
telligence was true, that the committee were them- 
selves conscious of a defeat of title in their princi- 
pals, that they made presents of cultivated land to 
such of the tenants as were willing to contest the title 
of their landlords, and sold the residue at the low 
price of but two shillings lawful money per acre.* 
One of the prisoners was a workman taken from the 
casting of cannon ball at the Ancram furnace for the 
King's army ; and that the service might not suffer, 
Governor Shirley wrote to the judges, requesting 
that he might be bailed. It was no sooner read than 
they declared, that this interposition of the Gover- 
nor's was of itself a good reason for holding him in 
close custody. This anecdote is recorded, not to ex- 
pose their ignorance of a prerogative vested by law 
in the King, whose letters against law and right are 
doubtless to be disregarded, but to show the extreme 
jealousy of the high-spirited descendants of the men 
who had curbed the tyranny of Charles I. 

That Mr. Shirley, whose regiment with Sir William 
Pepperel's, had passed by us up the river on the 
twenty-fourth of June for Niagara, censured the 
tardy proceedings of this colony, when he arrived at 
New-York on the second of July, and from Avhichhe 
departed two days after, was universally known. 



* The author accompanied Mr. Robert R. Livingston on this journev. 
On the 16th of May they met Brigadier Dwight, Colonel Clioat, and Major 
Ha^l^ at Sheffield. They had a vote of the General Court, authorising 
them to make grants west of Sheffield and Stockbridge, as far as to the 
province of New-York. They could not be dissuaded from prosecuting 
their surveys under so dangerous and indecisive a power, being unc^er in- 
«^rnctions. They refused giving a copy of the vntf 



212 [Chap. rV , 

How well it was founded, is left to the reader to 
determine. The Speaker's letter to the agent of the 
sixth of July, vvas doubtless intended as the justifica- 
tion of their proceedings. '^ By our last advices from 
the westward. Major General Braddock was on his 
march from Willis's Creek, within about fifty miles 
of the Ohio; his men well and in high spirits. On 
the fourth instant, Governor Shirley set out from this 
place for Albany, his men chiefly gone belbre, intend- 
ing with all expedition for INiagara. This little army 
consists of his own and Pepperel's regiments, joined 
by five hundred men from New-Jersey, and five hun- 
dred more proposed to betaken from Major General 
Johnson's comman.d ; so that this union will of course 
carry into execution the clause and article of war 
you sent us, and show its effects. The enterprise to 
Crown Point has so thoroughly engrossed the atten- 
tion of the House, that they have not been able to 
apply themselves to the affair of the Jersey line. 
The provincial forces of this and the eastern colonies, 
are on their march for Albany, in order with the 
utmost despatch to proceed to Crown Point, under 
the command of Major General Johnson, ^\ho, it is 
said, has engaged a good number of Indians to attend 
both armies, and 1 am in hopes by October next, we 
shall be in possession of all the settlements they have 
made on his Majesty's lands. This colony has, on 
this occasion, exerted its utmost, having in conjunc- 
tion with the colony of Massachusetts Bay, furnished 
the whole train of artillery, amounting to an expense 
of ten thousand pounds currency, the other colonies 
having furnished no part thereof" 

It must, however, be remembered, that one motive 
to the zeal of the party who had so long predomina- 
ted in the province, was taken away from the moment 
the news arrived in March, that Sir Charles Hardy 
was coming out to t^ke the reins. Their disgust 
could not be concealed ; Mr. Delancey had thq^mor- 
tifying prospect of descending to the bench with a 
disputable title, and the members were not without 
their fears of a dissolution, from the firmness of the 



1755.] 216 

administration respecting the permanent support, the 
rejection of their address to the King, the unac- 
coiintableness of their act respecting the Jersey line,* 
and the inattention of the Lords of Trade to their 
impeachment of the late Governor. Add to this, that 
the dissentions respecting the College had spread 
through the colony, and endangered the seats of 
several members ;t and that the Delanceys were 
not a little chagrined, both with Mr. Shirley and 
General Johnson. The former having prefei-red 
Messrs. Peter Van Brugh Livingston and William 
Alexander, to Mr." Oliver Delancey, for agents in the 
purchase of supplies for the Niagara expedition, and 
the latter being a partisan of Mr. Clinton's, and 
therefore not paid, and hated the more, because 
favored by General Braddock, in consequence of the 
patronage of Mr. Shirley. Not to mention that Shir- 
ley had expressed himself to the Lieutenant Governor 
with a tartness not easily to be forgot, though it was 
necessary to guard against his attacks; add to this, 
after the precipitation of the act providing for the 
service by three readings in one day, and the stimulus 
respecting Mr. Kennedy, an opposer of that bill, and 
the promoter of another sent from the Council to the 
House for the easier recovery of the King's quit-rents, 
was ascribed. 



* To weaken the opposition, Mr. Delancey had granted an additional 
charter, enabling the Ministers, Elders, and Deacons of the Low Dutch 
Church of New- York to choose and maintain a professor in the College of 
their persuasion, and on the 12th of June, the Governors petitioned the 
Assembly for the money which had been raised and put into the hands of 
the Trustees, but it was carried by a majority of two, to postpone the 
consideration of their request to the fall of the year. 

f Mr. Charles's letter of 25th of March, 1 755, had utterly subverte'd the 
confidence of those who relied on the Lieutenant Governor's opinion con- 
cerning the piopcr rnoc>e of setlhng that controversy, concerning the hear- 
ing at the Board of Trade on the act for submitting it to the King's de- 
cision, he writes, " their Lordships declare that they look upon the said 
acts as waste paper, and that the settlement of the line in dispute can no 
otherwise be made than by Commissioners from the Crown. — Again, 2nd 
June: — "I now find that their Lordships have agreed in a Report against 
the act as ineffectual to the purposes for which it was intended, and that it 
will be in vain to oppose the Report irt Council." — And he importunes the 
House to provide for the expense of a commission, as he had often before, 
for names to be prepared for commission. 



211 [Chap.r 

At the close of this meeting, Mr. Richard, Mr. Wal- 
ton, Mr. Cruger, and Mr. Watts, all members for the 
capital, were joined to the speaker at his request of 
aid for managing the future correspondence with the 
agent. 

The account of the death and defeat of Genera^ 
Braddock on the ninth of July, reached us o 
tenth day after, and gave a shock more easily con- 
ceived than described. 

Common sense suggested, that as the attempt 
against Fort Du Quesne was thus become abortive, 
reinforcements were necessary to give success to the 
two other enterprises against Niagara and Crown 
Point ; and especially to the former : yet when the 
Assembly met on the twenty-second of July, Mr. 
Delancey adjourned them to the fifth of August, and 
then delivered a speech for fresh levies of men in 
such animated terms, as increased the astonishment 
at his silence a fortnight before, and how he could 
then think it for his Majesty's service that the mem- 
bers should be dismissed, and now utter himself that 
" the safety and being of the British colonies are 
near a crisis. Nothing will tend more to animate 
our troops, than our proceeding immediately to raise 
an additional number of men to join them, nor can 
any thing be more effectual to confirm our Indians in 
their dependence on us, than to show them we have 
strength sufficient to protect them, to defend our- 
selves, and to chastise our enemies. Let it be ex- 
erted with the utmost vigor. As the provincial trooj)s 
are already on their march, any assistance we give 
them must be sent without the least delay ; and there- 
fore if a sufficient number of volunteers do not offer, 
it is necessary drafts should be made, and the suc- 
cours be despatched with all speed. I recommend 
it to you to provide funds. I have thought of three, 
a poll tax of ten shillings or more on every slave from 
fifteen to fift*' an excise upon tea, and a stamp duty. 
If they are i sufficient, rnake an addition to the tax 
on estates real and personal." 



7.35.] 



21.0 



Lieutenant Governor Phipps, oi' the Massachusetts 
Bay, had before urged an augmentation of the army 
destined to Crown Point, and his letter was now 
communicated to the Assembly, and led to the real 
pbject of the message ; for the House instantly signi- 
' ';beir concurrence for the reinforcement of that 
^ouy, and a bill was brought in for a new emission of 
ten thousand pounds to defray the expense, wliich 
was sent up to the Council on the 12th of August. 
Objections were now immediately started to it, and 
amendments proposed. Four hundred men were to 
be raised, at fifteen-pence a day. If volunteers did 
not offer, the quotas in all the counties, except New- 
York, were to be drafted by ballot ; but in that, the 
Captains had authority to pick out the individuals. 
Nothing could be more essential ; and it was imputed 
to design, to gratify private revenge, excited by the 
opposition to the College as well as to influence at 
the new elections, which every body imagined would 
take place as usual on the arrival of the new Gover- 
nor. The Lieutenant Governor, who had set his 
heart upon the bill, intruded upon the Council the 
day it came up, and pressed their assent with an in- 
decent freedom. The intended amendments could 
not have been rejected, without exposing the Lower 
House to the resentment of the people; and the 
Council, confident of success, resisted the Lieutenant 
Governor's importunity, and resolved to send them 
down. But, determined that the bill should pass as it 
stood, or be lost, he immediately published the secret 
which Mr. Shirley had incautiously trusted to him, and 
which the Council had engaged not to divulge before 
their amendments were adopted ; and that very after- 
noon sent the GeneraPs letter to the House, of the 
7th of that month, informing him that he had ordered 
Colonel Dunbar, who commanded the twelve hun- 
dred regulars that escaped on Braddock's defeat, to 
march immediately to Albany; and rom that mo- 
ment the augmentation of the provincial forces gave 
place to a vote for refreshing and transporting the 
regular troops; and two days after, the Assembly 



216 [Chap. IV. 

was adjourned to the 26th of that month, and after- 
wards to the 1st of September. 

But to guard against any disadvantageous impres- 
sions id England, care was tiken to despfitch a letter, 
on the I2tli of August, to the agent, which, after men- 
tioning Braddock's d^^feat, the loss of eight or nine 
hundred men, and the artillery and b iggage. "/or 
want only ef a little caution,'''' it adds : " What steps the 
southern colonies will take in this juncture, I know 
not. As for us, we can give no assistance, being en- 
gaged in an expedition against Crown Point ; and 
this disaster of General Braddock's, has laid us under 
a necessity of reinforcing our troops on that expedi- 
tion, at the expense of ten thousand pounds more. 
Mr. Shirley is gone to Oswego, with about three thou- 
sand men, to endeavor to seize Niagara, and inter- 
rupt the communication between Canada and the 
Ohio, through the Lake Ontario : but its success may 
now justly be doubted, as the French will be able, 
from the forces on the Ohio, to strengthen Niagara. 
In this disjointed state of our colonies, I fear we shall 
never be able to do any thing to effect. If the govern- 
ment at home will form us into an union, (for here I 
fear it never will be done,*) I make no doubt, but by 
a little assistance from Great Britain, in money, ship- 
ping, and warlike stores, we shall be able to drive 
this restless, treacherous, and savage enemy, from this 
continent." 



* On the 15th of this very month of August, Mr. Charles complained 
that no copy of the Albany plan of last year had even then been transmit- 
ted to him. The answer to this letter, of 4th November, perhaps assigns 
the reason. " The plan of union concerted at Albany, and sent home last 
year to be enforced by Parliament, we might object to ; but a union ap- 
pears so absolutely necessary, that we shall throw no obstacles in its way. 
As to the funds you hint at for American affairs, to wit. a stamp duty, and 
a duty on foreign molasses, we conceive it will be best for each colony to 
be left at liberty for raising and supplying their quota of money for gene- 
jal service, in such manner as they shall find will be most for their ease, 
though we have no objection to a duty of a penny sterling per gallon on 
foreign molasses, to be collected in each province, and applied towards 
malting up the quota of each province, where collected for the general use 
of America ; but a stamp duty we apprehend would be burdensome." 



1755.] 217 

Whether this letter was or was not despatched 
before Mr. Shirlej^'s letter on that day was commu- 
nicated to the House, there certainly was art in leav- 
ing the agent to make a use of it, for the credit of a 
colony that neither contributed this reinforcement it 
boasts of, either to the western or northern expedi- 
tions of the year. 

But a very different spirit prevailed in the eastern 
colonies; for, upon the southern defeat, Massachu- 
setts added eight hundred and Connecticut fifteen 
hundred men to the forces already under Gen. John- 
son's command ; and this compelled Mr. Delancey to 
defer any further adjournments. When he met the 
Assembly again, he counterfeited the highest appro- 
bation of the zeal and vigor of our eastern neighbors, 
and urged the House (the reader, doubtless, ima- 
gines) to increase their levies in the same or a greater 
proportion. But let us take his own words. " I do 
most earnestly recommend it to yon to fake measures 
suitable to this occamon. It would be a most sensible 
mortification to me to find this province backward in 
bearing their share in a matter so nearly touching 
their honor, their interests, and perhaps their being. 
This province has already done much for their security, 
and contributed i\\G\v fidl quota to the first plan of the 
expedition. Go on, then, to accomplish a work al- 
ready begun. Exert yourselves so as that we may 
appear with credit, and that we may, by the blessing 
of God, have reason to expect a happy issue to our 
undertakings in so just and righteous a cause." 



CHAPTER V. 



From the time of Lieutenant Governor Delanccy's ceasing to 
administer the government, to the arrival of Sir Charles 
Hardy as Governor. 

Sir Charles Hardy arrived on the 2d of Septem- 
ber, in the Sphynx ship of war, within a few hours 

28 



218 [Chap. V. 

after this message was transmitted to the House ; but 
by the artifice of Delancey, he was detained on board 
till the next day,* when his commission was publish- 
ed with the usual solemnities, and followed by an 
entertainment, bonfires, illuminations, and other ex- 
pressions of joy. 

Sir Charles, whether self-moved, or led by the ad- 
vice of the Lieutenant Governor, who had him to 
himself the whole preceding evening on board ship, 
apart from the Council, repressed all disagreeable 
intimations for the present; and on the fourth, sent a 
short message to the House, which, to those who were 
attentive to the artifices of the day, portended, what 
was soon after manifest to every body, that he had 
not talents to govern without a leader. He applaud- 
ed Mr. Delancey's last message, though he certainly 
had not time to discern its true end ; applauded their 
alacrity in raising supplies ; and in a word, alter a 
declaration of his hopes that they would give some 
further assistance, concluded with a compliment to 
the Lieutenant Governor, leaving them to proceed 
upon his request. 

The House, however, resolved, that it was too late 
in the season to raise men for the assistance of the 
Crown Point army, but that they would give eight 
thousand pounds towards two thousand men then in 
part levied in Connecticut for that purpose ; and im- 
mediately ordered in a bill to strike money to that 
amount ; and then presented the new Governor with 
an address, congratulating him upon his arrival; 
gently informing him of the custom of new elections 
at such a juncture; declaring their satisfaction in a 
dissolution, if he thought it consistent with the King's 



* The Council were met to receive him, when Chief Justice Delancey 
obtruded, and offered to be the bearer of a message to the Governor, that 
the militia could not be drawn up to receive him till the nex( day, and re- 
questing that he would postpone his landing in the interim. They tamelj 
coosented, instead of reproving him for the intrusion. 



1755.] 219 

interest and the security of the colony ; apologizing 
at the same time for the tardiness of their compli- 
ments, by the importance of their business, and an 
attention to necessary speed; and concluding with 
a testimonial of the upright intentions of his prede- 
cessor. 

Sir Charles, though he had Mr. Pownal then abouf 
him, and from whom he could be well informed of 
the state of our parties, and had himself been guard- 
ed by an address communicated under cover, the 
day after his arrival, by the free pen of an anony- 
mous writer, who had maintained a weekly paper for 
a year past, under the title of ' The Watch-Tower,' — 
thanked them for their congratulations ; expressed 
his pleasure in their professions of loyaltj- ; promised 
an attention to the public weal ; took encouragement 
from their applause of a Governor who regarded the 
King's service and the prosperity of the colony; 
thought their willingness to appeal to the people, a 
proof of their consciousness of their own rectitude, 
and applauded their despatch in the business before 
them. 

On the 11th of that month, the Governor passed 
the bill for eight thousand pounds to Connecticut, 
with another, which also originated in the Lower 
House, and three others which took their rise in the 
Council ; and then put an end to the session. 

Nothing was known, till the day after, of the attack 
upon the provincial camp at Lake George, and the 
repulse of the French, and the capture of Baron 
Dierhau their General. Upon the first news of that 
action, which happened on Monday, the bth of Sep- 
tember, vSir Charles determined to visit Albany, and 
forward the Connecticut reinforcements. He took 
■with him the Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Horsmanden, 
and Major Rutherford of the Council, with Mr. Pow- 
nal, and sailed on Sunday the 14th. Gen. Johnson, 
who left Albany with the artillery on the 8th of Au- 
gust, had arrived at the south fiid v»i Lake George 
but a few days before the French army appeared. 



220 I Chap. \ . 

and had only felled a few trees on the land side of 
his camp. 

The Baron had collected about three thousand 
men at Crown Point, and led a detachment of two 
hundred regulars, six hundred Canadians and as 
many Indians, up the South Bay, intending to pass on 
and lay waste tjjie settlements down to Albany; but 
near Fort Edward, turned back, with hopes of cut- 
ting off that part of the array then fourteen miles 
higher up the lake. He was first met by a party of 
about one thousand men, a few miles from our camp. 
These he drove before him, as well as a second de- 
tachment sent out to support them ; and by a very 
great error, instead of storming the log breastwork, 
he halted, and scattered his irregulars at one hun- 
dred and fifty yards, kept up a fire of musquetry till 
the camp recovered from its surprise, and began to 
play upon them with artillery. 

Wounded, and deserted by all but his handful of 
regulars, he thought of nothing now but returning to 
his boats at South Bay, but was pursued, wounded 
again and taken. A detachment of two hundred men 
from Fort Edward arriving at this instant, pursued 
the flying army, and completed the repulse before the 
dusk of the evening. Sir William Johnson receiving 
very early a wound in the thigh, the defence was con- 
ducted by General Lyman of Connecticut. The loss 
of the enemy, though much magnified at that time, 
was afterwards tbund to be less than two hundred 
men. Our Indians bore no part in the conflict, and 
soon after made the circuit of Albany, in their return 
to their own castles on the Mohawk river. All the 
Crown Point expedition ended in the construction of 
another fort, distinguished by the name of William 
Henry, while the French were erecting another at 
the pass of Carillon, or Ticonderoga.* 



* The Indian word is descriptive of a point at the confluence of three 
waters. Ticon is a corruption. To preserve the lodian pronunciation, it 
should have been Trritten Tjeonderoge. 



1765. J 221 

The Niagara expedition was still more unsuccess- 
ful. Nothing was effected except the preservation of 
Oswego, where General Shirley arrived on the 21st 
of August. After building the vessels, the want of 
provisions at that distant port retarded the army till 
the inland sea of Ontario, which they were to navi- 
gate, became too boisterous for a safe transportation 
of the troops ; and the General, having constructed 
a new fort, and made dispositions for the safety of 
that post, retired on the 24th of October, taking his 
route to Albany, where Colonel Dunbar had just 
brought the remains of Braddock's army to be win- 
tered,* and thence to New-York, to a congress of 
Governors and principal officers of the army, to con- 
cert a plan of operations for the ensuing year. 

The night of Tuesday the 18th of November, was 
rendered memorable by an earthquake. The moon 
was at the full, the sky bright and perfectly calm. 
About two minutes after four in the morning, a rum- 
bling noise was succeeded by jarring vibrations for 
four or five minutes. The shocks appeared to be not 
undulatory, but horizontal. The house the author 
was in cracked, and the windows rattled, but no fis- 
sure was made in the walls, nor did a brick fall from 
the chimneys. 

The Speaker's, or rather the committee's letter of 
the 4th of November, under his signature, to the 
agent, after mentioning General Johnson's army, ob- 
served, that "they had got no farther than Lake 
George, and I greatly fear will not reach Crown Point 
this winter. The French, it seems, impatient of our 
delay, met our forces at that lake, on the 8th of Sep- 
tember, and endeavored to storm their camp, but 
were repulsed with considerable loss. Their chief 
commander, with many others, were taken prisoners, 
and their next, with six or seven hundred men, were 
killed upon the spot. Why this victory was not pur- 



* They passed by the metropolis in thirty-three transports from New- 
Jersey, but not before the 8th of October. 



ii22 [Chap. V. 

sued, and a proper advantage made of it, I cannot as 
yet account for." After reporting, that the second 
in command was at the defeat of Braddock, he adds 
— " Surprising diligence on that side ! — but what term 
to give it on the other, I am at a loss. As to Gover- 
nor Shirley, he is returning without proceeding fur- 
ther than Oswego. What retarded his operations, I 
cannot yet learn. Sir Charles Hardy, our Governor, 
arrived here on the second of September, and was 
joyfully received by our Lieutenant Governor and our 
province. On the first news of the action at Lake 
George, he immediately went to Albany, with our 
Lieutenant Governor, and several of his Majesty's Coun- 
cil of this province; from whence he is not yet return- 
ed, though hourly expected, and where, it is said, he 
has been remarkably assiduous in forwarding every 
thing relating to the expedition. We as yet know 
nothing of his instructions." 

Sir Charles did not return to New-York before the 
26th of November, nor General Shirley until the 2d 
of December ; the former, on that day to meet his 
Assembly, and the latter, shortly afterwards, the 
congress he had convoked. 

Sir Charles was now obliged to reveal the disa- 
greeable orders he had received, upon the long-con- 
tested quarrel respecting the annual support of the 
civil list. The moment it was divulged, there remain- 
ed no further doubt of the truth of the reports from 
Albany, that there had been bickerings between him 
and General Shirley, and that Mr. Delancey swayed 
the councils of the new Governor. With an Assem- 
bly at the beck of the Lieutenant Governor, he saw 
the propriety of surrendering himself into his hands, 
or of entering into a quirrel, which, considering the 
exigency of the hour, endangered both his credit and 
his interest. 

He told them plainly, that he was commanded to 
insist upon a permi lent, indefinite revenue : provid- 
ing in the same law, comp^^tent salaries for all the 
usual officers of government, repairing and maintain- 
ins: fortifications, annual presents to the Indians, and 



1755.] 223 

for unforeseen contingents attending that service, and 
in general, for all the fixed and ascertainable charges 
of government : after which, he demanded their 
quota towards the garrisons of forts Edward and Wil- 
liam Henry, and for a discharge of the arrears that 
were due to the troops in their pay. 

The scheme concerted, was to tack the provision 
wanted with the payment, not only of what was due 
to the army, but to the officers of government, who, 
in consequence of the thirty-ninth instruction, were 
hitherto unpaid, and thus to create a still greater de- 
pendence of the Executive upon the pleasure of the 
Assembly, who now meant to adopt the practice of 
paying the officers after the year, as public creditors, 
instead of securing the payment for services hereaf- 
ter to be done. 

The Assembly, in their answer, declare, that his 
activity in proceeding to Albany, and forwarding the 
Crown Point expedition, merited the highest ap- 
plause; and that the erecting and garrisoning the 
two northern forts, (for not a word is lisped concern- 
ing Oswego,) were "wholesome and well-judged 
measures." After which they proceed to the grand 
subject of debate, and warily reply, that they had no 
convenient funds for an indefinite support, and there- 
fore hoped to be excused for declining a measure 
opposite to the sentiments of almost every individual 
of the colony. They added, that they could not help 
disclosing their concern, that a province so small in 
numbers, and so cheerful and liberal in supporting 
the government, was asked to do what others were 
not; and concluded with testifying great gratitude 
to the Crown for its eminent favors. 

The Governor replied, that " his Majesty having 
constituted this his province into a government, justly 
expected a support of that government by a perma- 
nent revenue, settled by a law, that shall be indefi- 
nite; and as to the funds or means of raising that 
support, it lies with you, whom I am extremely happy 
to find sensible of, and so gratefully acknowledging, 
his Majesty's paternal care and favor." 



a24 [Ciiap. V. 

The House continued sitting until the 23(1 of that 
month ; and then, after passing several laws, adjourn- 
ed, without discord, till the holidays were over. The 
Assembly sought no occasion for controversy, while 
the Governor on his part soothed them wilh hints of 
his disapprobation of the orders he had delivered 
from his master, and with intimations of his unwilling- 
ness to take umbr-ige at their non compliance. 

By this cor)duct, and the help of the prevailing 
party, he grew popular, while the General of the 
army, by the acts of the same junto, was defamed. 

Mr. Shirley continued his head-quarters at New- 
York till the 21st of January, when he set forward to 
Boston, to accelerate a winter expedition against 
Ticonderoga, which he had planned after his main 
scheme for the operations of the next campaign was 
adjusted ; and Major Rutherford and Captain Staats 
Morris were despatched with copies of it to the 
minister. 

This Congress opened on the 1 2th of December, 
and consisted of the General, Sir Charles Hardy, 
Lieutenant Governor Sharp of Maryland, Mr. Morris 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fitch of Connecticut, Colonel 
Dunbar, Colonel Peter Schuyler, Major Craven, Sir 
John St. Clair, and Major Rutherford. 

It soon transpired, that the General intended to 
drive the French from Frontenac and Toronto, two 
forts on the north side of Lake Ontario, gain a domi- 
nion of that sea, and cut oflT the communication be- 
tween Canada and the interior dependencies at Nia- 
gara, Fort Du Quesne, Detroit, Michillimackinac, and 
the posts on the waters of the Mississippi. By whom 
the resolutions of the council of war were first divulg- 
ed, was never discovered ; but very soon after the 
Governors were gone home, one Evans, the author of 
a map of the middle colonies, in print asserted the 
title of France to the very country proposed to be 
invaded; and every body knew that this man was 
patronized by Mr. Pownal and the partisans of Mr. 
Delancey. These gentlemen, as Lieutenant Govcr- 
]?o'*s. the former of New-Jersey, and the other of 



1755.] 225 

New- York, were piqued at not being invited to assist 
at the grand deliberations of the day, and took all 
opportunities to revenge the General's resentment oi* 
their intrigues, when at Albany — to sow discord be- 
tween him and Sir Charles Hardy — undervaluing his 
services on the western expedition, and inagnilying 
General Johnson's defence at Lake George, of which 
they had before spoken slightly, as the achievement 
of a hero and the saviour of his country. And thus 
the man, who, when first noticed by Mr. Clinton, was 
treated Avith contempt for adhering to that Governor, 
could not obtain the payment of a just debt often de- 
manded from the Assembly, was of a sudden intro- 
duced into the capital with the pomp of a triumph. 
A crowd went out to meet him, when he- made his 
entry, surrounded with coaches and chariots, into a 
city illuminated to his honor, though the General, 
whose interest he came to solicit for the next year's 
command, had a few days before arrived from Alba- 
ny, and landed almost without observation. 

Before Mr. Shirley left Nevi^-York, he proposed a 
winter expedition to surprise and seize the post of 
Ticonderoga, and Sir Charles communicated the se- 
cret to his Assembly on the lOth of January, 1756, 
and besought them for their contributions. 

The House, after three days, declared it to be a 
hopeless project, unless the General would, instead 
of two, send four hundred regulars along with the 
provincial troops, and muttered their discontent at 
the proportion to be supplied by the Massachusetts 
Bay. The Gerieral, through Sir Charles, informed 
them that all the troops under Colonel Dunbar and 
Lieutenant Colo/iel Gage, amounted to but six hun- 
dred, and that so many as they wished for could not 
be spared, without reversing the plan just settled in 
the general congress for the ensuing campaign. The 
Assembly adhered to their first opinion ; and the Ge- 
neral, a few days after, proceeded to Boston, in order 
to excite the eastern colonies to prosecute the enter- 
prise without the aid of New- York, and to forward 
the preparations for the general services of the year. 

29 



226 [Chap. V. 

Pownal returned to England soon after Mr. Shirley 
went to Boston, and Sir Charles was now left alone. 

Before the Governor arrived, it was reported by 
Pownal, and believed, because his brother was Se- 
cretary to the Board of Trade, and a necessary in- 
strument to the Earl of Halifax, who presided there, 
that a new commission, durante bene placitu, would be 
sent out to the Chief Justice, that he might, if he took 
it up, henceforth be en bride. Being at Albany in 
October Term, the multitude remained in suspence 
concerning the part he was to act, till the next Court 
in January Mas opened. 

Mr. Delancey, from the death of Sir Danvers Os- 
born, asserted his title in all companies, nor did 
he omit his attendances at any of the jovial feasts and 
conventions of the profession of the law. His parti- 
sans at the Bar had tested the writs in his name to 
countenance his pretensions, while others inserted 
the names of the puisne Judges, without his, and some 
those of all three. The puisne Judges uttered pub- 
licly not a syllable upon the subject, though they 
held their places during good behaviour, through 
dread of his power over the Assembly, by whom they 
were supported, though they had privately declared 
that his commission was extinct. They waited to see 
what part the Governor meant to take, imagining he 
would ofTer Mr. Delancey a new commission, and if 
he did not, meant to be silent — judging then he must 
have resigned himself to the demagogues, for the 
easier management of the Assembly. 

The Court opened during the moment of suspence, 
on the 20th of January ; and the hall being much 
crowded, the Lieutenant Governor made his appear- 
ance, struggling through the populace to advance to- 
wards the Bench. As the Sheriff's officers called 
upon the crowd to give way, he stepped forward, 
with a countenance of anxiety and confusion, until 
Chambers and Horsmanden, the puisne Judges, took 
him by the hand with a cringing courtesy, and placed 
him between them on the Bench, where he continu- 
ed till two prisoners, one charged for a murder and. 



1756.] 227 

the other for a theft, were arraigned and taken from 
the Bar. 

His dominion over the Governor was no longer 
doubted by most men, though it was still whispered 
by a few, that Sir Charles took this conduct for a 
bold attack upon the prerogative : but this continued 
only until the 4th of February. 

That day was appointed for arguing a demurrer to 
a bill in Chancery before the Governor. The author 
was one of the counsel in that cause, and they waited 
long for the Chancellor's appearance, not suspecting 
that the perturbation of his mind was the cause of 
his absence. While the suitors were left below, they 
were invited into his private apartment, and a con- 
versation ensued, of which the author made a minute, 
and he therefore transcribed it, as being too charac- 
teristic of Sir Charles to be omitted. 

Addressing himself to the counsel on both sides, 
Mr. Murray, Mr. Smith, Mr. Nicoll, and the author, 
he said, " I beg pardon for detaining you, gentlemen. 
Does this matter turn upon a point of law } 

Answer. It is a demurrer to a bill, and raises the 
question, whether the complainant's relief is not to 
be at common law } 

Sir Charles. I desired the Chief Justice to be here, 
and he is not come. I can't take upon myself to say 
I understand the law. 

Mr. Smith. Few Governors will ; but it is a branch 
of your office, Sir Charles. 

Sir Charles. I have been a Justice of the Peace in 
England, but know nothing of the law. My know- 
ledge, gentlemen, relates to the sea; that is my 
sphere. If you want to know when the wind and tide 
suit for going down to Sandy Hook, I can tell you 
that. How can a Captain of a ship know any thing 
of your demurrers in law ? 

Mr. Smith. A Master of the Rolls is wanting, with 
an appeal to the Governor and Council. 

Sir Charles. I think so too ; but will the Assembly 
support one ? May I expect success if I try it ? 



228 [Chap. V. 

Mr. Murraif. Thcj don't love to part Avitli money ; 
and all airroc, that he could not flatter himscHwith 
any liberal provision for a new oificer. 

Sir Charles. Can't you settle this matter, gentle- 
men, among yourselves? 1 am sure you can, better 
than I can for you. 

Mr. Smith. No, Sir ; we are at variance, and must 
be determined by your opinion. 

Sir Charles. Can't you leave it to arbitration } 

.,^11. Not without the consent ot" our clients, and 
that we can't advise. 

Mr. Dclancey came in, to the great joy of the Go- 
vernor, and the morning being spent, it was proposed 
co adjourn the hearing to another day. At parting, 
Sir Charles said, " I beseech you, gentlemen, to bring 
these kind of questions before me as seldom as pos- 
sible. If you ever dispute about a fact, i can search 
the depositions, and perhaps tell who has the best of 
it; but i know nothing of your points of law.'' The 
cause WIS afterwards debated, and a decree pro- 
nouriced by Mr. Delancey, who dictated the entry to 
the Register. The Governor, who awkwardly sat by, 
interfered only to pronounce an "Amen." 

The Assembly now instituted two bills for the sup- 
port of government — one to discharge the arrears of 
the ofric(M's, tackiM,o; sums for other services, and an- 
other providing or the ensuing year. By the former, 
Mr. Dehuicey was to receive three thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven pounds sixteen shillings; 
his brother Oliver, about lour hundred pounds; the 
agent, nine hundred and fifty four pounds seventeen 
shillings: the Judges, their arrears for two years; 
and the Governor, five hundred pounds for his voy- 
age to Albany, nnd two hundred pounds more under 
the name of expenses in transporting presents to, 
and victualling the Indians at, that place; and the 
latter was to operate as a confirmation of his title to 
the Chief Justice's commission, by a salary for the 
current year. This last was sent to the Council on 
the .Jt)th of January, and the former followed five 
days after it. 



1756.] 229 

Possessed of these bills, the Council rejected a 
favorite five pound act ; and the very next day, the 
Assembly played off their old artillery against Mr. 
Kennedy, by a message to the Governor against the 
seizure of the gunpowder disputed, and still unde- 
cided, in the Admiralty, and desiring him to com- 
plain of that as an injury to the colony, in a repre- 
sentation to the Board of Trade. The Council, who 
were stimulated to the rejected bill, desired to know 
the state of one of theirs, to prevent supplies of pro- 
visions and warlike stores to the French ; and were 
answered, that conceiving it to be impracticable to 
execute it, they declined any further proceedings 
upon it.* 

Before the debt bill and that for the annual sup- 
port went up, the Governor had requested the levy 
of one thousand men for the Crown Point expedition, 
and the House voted to raise and supply them ; but 
halting to know the fate of these bills, and doing lit- 
tle for several days, while their party bills were in 
suspence in the Upper House, Sir Charles, on the 
16th of February,, animadverted upon their delays, 
and pressed for powers to detach the militia, if vo- 
lunteers did not offer. It was three days after that 
before the quota bill made its appearance in the 
House ; and when it had a second reading, they de- 
sired leave to adjourn from week to week, declaring 
that they could not proceed further, till they knew 
the resolution of the other colonies concerning the 
intended enterprise. 



* Tliere has never been any process of outlawry in this colony, nor for 
wanl of the proper courts of law, as I can learn, in any of the rest; and 
yet, till the 16lh of February in this year, we had no law to oblige a single 
partner to answer for a joint debt witlioul his fellow-contractors. By the act 
now, he is compellable to plead ; and if the plaintiff preFails, he recovers 
against the company's lands and goods, hut cannot have execution against 
the bodies of the absent partners, nor touch their separate estates. That 
this novelty came into our code at so late a day, and has been since but 
seldom practiced upon, is a proof, especially considering the scant limits of 
the province, of the narrow sphere of our commerce, or of the uprightness 
of our merchants. 



230 [Chap. V. 

In this situation the Governor withheld the war- 
rants for levying the troops ; and being moved by the 
distresses on the frontiers of Ulster and Orange, ra- 
vaged by the Indians, he earnestly demanded their 
support for a force in conjunction with New-Jersey, 
to give security to those borders. To gain time, the 
turn given to this message, was a resolution to pay 
what may be deemed to be our quota of an army of 
one thousand men, to be raised by us, New-Jersey, 
and Pennsylvania, towards an expedition against the 
Indians; and he was desired to concert what was 
proper with those governments. 

Sir Charles, the next day, repeated his instances 
for their despatch of what respected the joint designs 
against Crown Point, and informed them, that Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut were levying men far be- 
yond their proportions, that the service might not 
suffer by the defaults of any of the southern provin- 
ces ; and he now insisted upon the augmentation of 
their intended levy of one thousand men. 

From the 4th to the 16th of March, the Assembly 
artfully met only to adjourn, and then voted seven 
hundred and fifteen men in addition to the one thou- 
sand, but that four hundred of these should be em- 
ployed in an offensive war against the Indians ; and 
ordered proper clauses for these purposes to be add- 
ed to the bill which they had so long retarded, under 
pretence of waiting for the co-operation of the other 
colonies respecting the Crown Point expedition, and 
which, by uniting the provision for both objects in 
one bill, was still longer delayed. 

The cruelties in the mean time perpetrated in 
Orange and Ulster, excited clamors in that quarter, 
and compassion every where else, and the House was 
censured by a publication in the Gazette, of the 15th 
of March Doctor Colden, who lived in Ulster, being 
suspected to be the author, the printers were sum- 
moned ; but the obnoxious composition being traced 
to Mr. Watkins, the wrath of the House vanished into 
smoke, for he being an Episcopal clergyman, and the 
dissention running high between church and dis- 



1756.] 231 

senter concerning the College, he was not even sent 
for to be reproved till the next autumn, though the 
two printers were ordered to be committed. This 
attack, however, quickened their motions ; for on the 
20th of March, they sent up their quota bill for rais- 
ing seventeen hundred and fifteen men. 

It lay eleven days with the Council, where it was 
opposed by Mr. Smith and Doctor Colden, who came 
to town during the alarms occasioned by the Indian 
irruptions into Ulster. Before this time, the debt bill 
was in the Governor's hands, * but stigmatized by the 
protest of Messrs. Smith and Colden in so pointed a 
manner, that Sir Charles was fearful of giving it his 
assent. This was at length forced by the manage- 
ment of the House, who allowed a bounty of five 
pounds per man for the volunteers against Crown 
Point, but provided only thirty shillings for those who 
were to act in the harder service against the Indians ; 
and besides, those troops were to be disbanded in 
forty days, and not at the Governor's discretion — a 
confidence reposed by the province of New-Jersey 
in Governor Belcher. The majority of the Council 
adhered to the objections of Doctor Colden, who 
spoke both his own and the Governor's sentiments. 
Mr. Delancey, in this delicate situation of affairs, 
thought proper to absent himself; but finding means, 
by a member of the Assembly, to inform the Gover- 
nor that this bill might be altered, if the debt bill was 
passed, his Excellency, pressed by the advanced 
season of the year, engaged to pass the debt bill ; 
and the other being sent down, privately amended so 
as to take away his own and the objections of the 



* " We are sitting still. The principal money bill, which is for pajing 
the debts of the colony, and among others, the salaries for the several offi- 
cers of goTernment for the time past, has passed the Council, but has not 
yet received the Governor's assent, and is therefore as yet in suspence. By 
the next packet, I may perhaps be able to inform you further, particularly 
with respect to the Jersey line, which is still under consideration." Jtlr. 
Joneses letter to the agent, 22d February, 1756. And on the 20th of July, 
1756, he adds, "I have now the pleasure to acquaint you, that he has 
passed it." 



232 [Chap. V. 

Council, the Governor sent for both Houses the next 
day, and passed all the bills rondy, both parties be- 
irig so well pleased with the Inte barter, as to part on 
an adjournment to the 27th of April. 

The opposition to the debt bill cost Mr. Alexander 
his life. He ventured out for that purpose in a pa- 
roxysm of the gout, took cold, and died the day after 
the session. And from that time the Governor, who 
had such demonstrative proof of the devotion of the 
Assembly to the Lieutenant Governor, as to obstruct 
the levies for the service until his interest was secur- 
ed, in defiance of an instruction, and at the risk of 
the royal resentment, tamely resigned himself into 
his hands. 

It must, in justice to Mr. Delancey, be added, as 
the sequel will evince by his policy, the colony ob- 
tained a victory over the government as m ell as the 
Governor; for after that day, the Ministry gave up 
their objections to the popular project of the ant^- 
Cosbyan patriots, for holding the otlicers dependent 
upon the annual support of the Assembly. But this 
Assembly were nevertheless culpable, lor slighting 
one of the most favorable opportunities for settling 
our contested limits, which have since produced 
such scenes of confusion and distress. Sir Charles, 
on the first of January, communicated to the House 
an instruction, urging a provision tor one half of the 
expense for adjusting the partition line with Jersey 
by Commissioners; and at the same time informed 
them of General Shirley's readiness to procure the 
(consent of Massachusetts Bay, over which he then 
had a prevailing interest, to join in a like ctommission 
for ascertaining our eastern boundary. Intoxicated 
by the spirit of party, they lost an opportunity to give 
peace and safety to thousands, by a provision for ter- 
minating that, and the controversy we had also with 
New-Hampshire : but it was Mr. Delancey's ambi- 
tion rather to create than to lessen dependencies on 
his will; and the neglect of education left a hard, 
wicked colony, exposed to his arts. 



1756.] 233 

The delay occasioned by the late stratagem, and 
the hourly expectation of the General from Boston,* 
obliged the Governor to call upon the Assembly 
before the end of the month, for power to supply the 
want of volunteers by detachments, while the clog 
upon the operations of the 400 men who were to be 
employed against the Indians by the quarrels between 
Governor Morris and the Pennsylvania Assembly, 
prevented even the issuing of the military warrants 
for those recruits. Sir Charles, therefore, asked for 
authority to detach men, that the 400 might be joined 
to the quota for the Crown Point expedition, that 
provisions might be collected for troops expected 
from England, the rates of land carriage ascertained, 
and the northern militia relieved from unequal bur- 
dens in the general service. 

Within five days, laws were enacted to expedite 
the levies, and prevent the exportation of provisions, 
and the bill setting the price of transportation, 
brought in by Mr. Watts on the 4th of May, was the 
same day sent up to the council, and on the next 
passed by the Governor. A velocity of proceeding, 
which if it demonstrates zeal for the service, proves 
that it sprang from very recent causes, which are left 
to the conjectures of the reader. 

But this ardor to facilitate Sir Charles's zeal, short- 
ly after abated upon the disgust he gave to the mer- 
chants, by his measures against the illicit commerce 
which had been long driven with Hamburgh and Hol- 
land, and several seizures were now made by his or- 
der, which they ascribed to his loss of one of the inde- 
pendent companies. Nor was the dependence upon 
him so necessary, it being reported that the Crown 
had relinquished the project of an indefinite support. 
Besides this, he was eclipsed by the new lustre of 



* He arrived here 20th April, and sailed the 2d of May for Albany. 
Sir Charles's Message was on the 29th of April. 

30 



231 [Chap. V. 

General Johnson,* who was knighted for his servi- 
ces, and our forces were abated by the arrival of 
General Webb on the 7 th of June, and the Royal 
American officers on the 15th, with General Aber- 
crombie, the two regiments of Otways, and the High- 
landers. 

On the 29th of June, Sir Charles informed the As- 
sembly, that the Earl of Loudon was coming out to 
take the command of the army, and called upon them 
for aid in recruiting the two regular regiments wi^i 
soldiers, who were to be discharged at the end of the 
war, and have each two hundred acres of land free 
from quit-rent for ten years. 

He added, that the sum of one hundred and fifteen 
thousand pounds was given by Parliament to be dis- 
tributed by the King among the New-England colo- 
nies, this, and the province of New-Jersey. That 
his Majesty expected fresh aids of men for the ope- 
rations of the year; the reimbursement of masters 
for servants enlisting in the army, and the prohibition 
of commerce with and all supplies to the enemy. 

The House resolved. That the colony had exerted 
itself, by furnishing its proportion for the Crown 
Point expedition, the defence of the western frontiers, 
the march of many thousands of the militia on the 
attack of Baron Dieskau, and this year on alarms to 
support the King's troops, posted to the westward, 
where a party was cut oflf;! and again to preserve 
Fort William Henry when on the point of being 
abandoned by the garrison, composed of Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut troops. 1 hat we raised first 
800, then 500, and afterwards 400 men, that £20,000 
had been granted for fortifying the capital. That a 
common fund ought to be established. That we had 



* His Majesty has ordered 15,000/. to New-York, 5000/. to Major General 
Johnson, for his services, (o whom likewise a commission is issued for the 
superintendancy of the Indian affairs, with a salary of 600/. per annum. 
Vide agent's letter, \Wi March, 1756. 

f A small garrison at a block-house, under Lieutenant Bull, at the Oneida 
portage, where Fort Stanwix was afterwards erected, was abandoned in 
March. 



1756.] 235 

given £5000 to Virginia, and as much to be disposed 
of by General Braddock, and that till such an es- 
tablishment, the colony was unable to do more. But 
they nevertheless approved of the payment for enlist- 
ed servants, and were for continuing the laws against 
supplies to the French, and these resolves they or- 
dered to be published in the Gazette, 

About the same time Sir Charles proposed to them 
an act for vacating the patents of Kayaderosseros, 
Cannojohary, and Oriskany, which has been repre- 
sented by the Lords of Trade, as obtained of the hi- 
dians by fraud, and that the declension of the Indian 
interest was owing to their want of satisfaction. 

Upon this subject they suspended any resolution, 
till after this next meeting, considering it as a matter 
requiring most mature deliberation ; and the day 
after (9th July) they adjourned, leaving a committee 
empov»'ered to welcome the Earl of Loudon, who was 
daily expected, to thank him for engaging in the 
service, and to provide for his honorable reception. 

This attack on the patents was ascribed to Sir 
William Jolmson, and gave general offence, and it 
was fortunate for the proprietors, that the Delancey 
family were interested in Oriskany, a very valuable 
tract, embracing the banks of the Mohawk River, 
near the great transportation to the waters of the 
Wood creek. 

When the new Generals arrived at Albany, Mr. 
Shirley returned on the 4th of July to New- York, 
and Sir Charles on the 1 1th went up the river with 
Mr. Delancey and Mr. Chambers. Three days after, 
the news arrived that war had been declared against 
France. Mr. Shirley waited till the arrival of the 
Earl of Loudon on the 23d, who brought Mr. Pow- 
nal with him, and repaired to Albany on the 26th ; 
and on the 1st of August Mr. Shirley sailed to Provi- 
dence for Boston, and thence to England, and was 
followed a fortnight afterwards by Mr. Pownal, who 
had the promise of his government. 

Sir Charles returned to the metropolis on the 15th 
of August, disgusted with the Earl of T^oudon, Avho 



236 [Chap. V. 

had checked his intermeddling in military concerns, 
and denied his request of two independent compa- 
nies for his guards. 

About this time Oswego was besieged, and lost to 
the general alarm of the colonies. General Webb, 
who was then posted at the Oneida carrjing-place, was 
in such consternation, that he ordered trees to be 
filled in Wood creek to obstruct the progress of 
the enemy, if they should attempt to penetrate that 
way, and the Earl in equal terror at Albany, pushed 
on Sir William Johnson with the militia to sustain 
Webb, and ordered large drafts of others to follow 
him from Albany and Ulster, and importuned even 
the southern colonies for recruits. The panic was 
universal, and from this moment it was manifest that 
nothing could be expected from all the mighty 
preparations made for that campaign. 

It was at this juncture (24th September,) Sir 
Charles administered the consolation he had for 
some time secreted, that the Crown had in effect re- 
pealed the instruction to Sir Danvers Osborn, which 
had given so much offence. 

Upon communicating this address of the 9th De- 
cember last, the Lords were ordered to write, and 
did write, that the King, conceiving the present As- 
sembly unwilling to receive old claims and preten- 
sions, and declaring that they did not mean to assume 
a share in the executive, but as he had represented 
were willing to promote the service of the Crown, 
was now pleased to allow him to assert to their 
temporary bills for the support of Government con- 
formable in other respects to the instructions res- 
pecting the disposition of public money. 

He had before put into the Treasury the share of 
the Parliamentary donation of £15,000 sterling;* 



* It was great negligence to omit upon'the first advice of £15,000, the 
proper re{)resentations for the due distribution of it. When Mr. Jones 
complained of it, the agent pertinently replied 13th of August, 1766. 
" How was it possible to set this matter right without proper documents to 
show when the account was exaggerated ? I am not insensible of the 



1756.] 237 

and now asked for an augmentation of salaries, a 
compensation for the militia on the late alarms, 
quarters for the troops, admitting the grants objected 
to by the Indians, and recommended, as Mr. Delan- 
cey had done before, a stamp duty, an excise upon 
tea, and a poll tax upon negroes, with such others as 
the inhabitants could bear with the least inconveni- 
ence. 

The session continued with the utmost harmony 
to the 1st of December, when eleven acts were passed 
for a revenue by duties on imports, an excise on 
spirituous liquors and tea, to prolong the currency 
of the bills of credit, for billeting the troops, erecting 
a stamp office and a new jail, clothing the provincial 
levies, appropriating the College funds, paying off 
the last year's arrears of the officers of the govern- 
ment, and providing for the next. 

To reward the Governor, and elude the instruc- 
tion and his receiving presents, they added £240 to 
the old allowance of £ 1 560, assigning for a pretext 
the difference of exchange between the time of its 
first establishment as an equivalent for £1000 ster- 
ling, and the present day, and though. the independ- 
ent companies were now embodied with the army, 
they put into his pocket £100 more, under the name 
of fuel and candle money for the fort, and by both 
the support bills gave Mr. Delancey a salary of £300 
a year as Chief Justice. 

To find an apology for the Governor's disregard 
of the instruction respecting the prolongation of the 
paper money, a committee of both houses put into 
his hands an argumentative address, assigning five 
reasons for the necessity of that act. Upon the 
strength of their victory in the establishment of the an- 



prcsent circumstances of New-England ; that want of commerce and em- 
ployment has made them soldiers, thai they arc, in some measure, become 
the Swiss of the continent, in which quality they are not unacceptable 
here, and that they understand how to value their services. But as the 
military operations of the continent will require the further aids of thie 
country, I cannot doubt that the account will be stated according to the 
service done and expense incurred, without any undue preference." 



23& [Chap.V. 

nual support by which the Governor was now bridled, 
having therefore no dread of an immediate dissolu- 
tion, the House ventured implicitly to confirm, or 
rather to rid themselves of all further disputes re- 
specting the College, which had kindled such a flame, 
that several thousands ha^ petitioned* to be heard 
against any confirmation of the charter, which the 
Lieutenant Governor had formerly passed in its favor. 
That corporation had not only hopes of procuring a 
law to vest them with the sums raised by the lottery 
and excise, but of obtaining further aids, and a legis- 
lative confirmation of their charter. The consent of 
the Assembly alone was wanting, for the new Go- 
vernor had soon after his arrival shown his favorable 
intentions by a donation of £500 to Mr. Delancey's 
institution. Its opposers therefore shrewdly con- 
jectured that they could have no hope of erecting a 
university on the plan exhibited by the bill, formerly 
proposed, printed, and slighted, and being contented 
to allow the college half of the money in bank, if the 
remainder was applied to any other public use. It 
was agreed in the lobby to repeal the acts by which 
the whole was engaged for a college, and to divide 
the stock raised between the party college and the 
city corporation, for the purpose of erecting a jail, 
and providing a lodgment for crews of infected ves- 
sels. When Mr. Smith was asked in council for his 
voice on this bill, he said jestingly f " It rids us of a 
bone of contention, by dividing it between the two 
pest houses." Both parties triumphed. The friends 
of the College wanted the money for the erection of 
the edifice, and their antagonists believed that having 
stigmatised its illiberal constitution, it would never 
in future receive any legislative support. Mr. De- 
lancey, who proposed this partition to cement his 
party in the House, hoped also to repair the breaches 
upon his popularity without doors, and with the same 
view or with a disgust at the importunity of his friends 



* Vide Journals of the Assembh', 18th of December, 1755. 



1756.] 239 

to whom he gave the charter unwillingly, he never 
afterwards would assist in forwarding the design; 
often saying, when summoned to their meetings, 
" that he had contributed enough to it by the loss of 
his reputation." 

If Sir Charles had not been in the scheme of pas- 
sing the bill, for prolonging the currency of the bills, 
by which £1800 was applied towards the payment of 
the officers of the government, of which he had a 
share, -he might have answered the objection of this 
want of funds, by pointing to the several thousands, 
now given for a college, a jail, and a pest-house. 

But it was expedient that he should "believe all 
our funds were exhausted, and the £1500 given to 
the colony, already in part applied for the support of 
its troops." 

The Speaker's letter to the agent, of 1.3th October, 
written with the assistance of a committee of the city 
members, Mr. Watts, Mr. Watson, Mr.Cruger and Mr. 
Delancey, who took Mr. Richard's place on the 9th, 
November, holds up a picture of that day. " I ac- 
quainted you (2d July) that we were in great ex« 
pectation of a successful campaign. But as our dis- 
appointment is rather greater than that of the last 
year, for instead of taking Crown Point, the enemy 
have made themselves masters of the important for- 
tress of Oswego, taken the whole garrison prisoners 
of war, demolished all the fortifications, carried away 
all the armed vessels, two hundred whale boats, can- 
non, provisions and warlike stores ; and this, it is 
said, they did in a few days time — a dishonor to the 
British name. Oh shameful behaviour of our forces ! 
We have now no footing on Lake Ontario ; all is left 
to the uninterrupted possession of the enemy, who 
will doubtless dispossess us of all that Ave have re- 
maining, if not suddenly stopped. As for our forces 
on the northern frontier, both regulars and provin- 
cials, I expect to hear of no action by them, unless the 
enemy force them to it. If some more vigorous reso- 
lutions are not made in England, and seasonably exe- 
cuted, we must inevitably fall a prey to the prevailing 



240 [Chap. V. 

power of France. We live in hopes that a vigorous 
push will be made for the reduction of Canada, which 
seems to be the only measure that can secure us. I 
told you in my letter 2d July, that you should have a 
just state of the expenses this year. I cannot at pre- 
sent enumerate any particulars, neither does it ap- 
pear necessary. We emitted £.52,000 bills of credit 
last spring, to be redeemed by taxes on estates, real 
and personal, which I expect will all be expended 
in the pay of our forces, and other necessaries, at- 
tending this state of warfare, before the end of the 
year. Our Governor has acquainted us with the al- 
teration of the instruction, relating to the permanent 
salary ; but at the same time insists upon a larger 
allowance than his predecessors have had, under 
pretence* of the alteration in value of our currency. 
How far this may occasion differences between him 
and the assembly I cannot yet foresee; perhaps my 
next may inform you. Enclosed you have a note of 
the general assembly giving their thanks to Messrs. 
Hanburg and Tomlinson, merchants in London, for 
their extraordinary care with respect to the money 
granted by Parliament, and you are desired to wait 
on those gentlemen with it. The Assembly are now 
sitting, and when the session ends, I shall write fur- 
ther to you." 



* The House the very next day, voted on the 14th October, to his 
Excellency the salary of £1560, and added these words — " which from the 
strictest inquiry appears to be originally given as an equivalent for £1000 
sterling, and in consideration of (he difference in the value of the present 
currency of this colony, from what it was when the aforesaid salary was 
first settled, the further sum of £240." As this was the first article of a 
long report then perfected for all the salaries of the year, the Speaker's 
expression is, singular after such a point had been carried in a com- 
mittee of the whole House, and gives reason for the supposition, that 
this correspondence is not always to be depended upon. Flushed witlv 
the success against the scheme of an indefinite support, and the ne- 
cessity of the concurrence of the colony in the measures of the war, it was 
expedient to raise a belief that harmony depended upon the will of the 
idol of the party for securing his interest ; and the whole letter was 
doubtless written to make impressions disadvantageous to Mr. Shirley, 
who sailed from Boston on the preceding 28th September. 



1756.] 241 

The Earl of Loudon, aftrr the loss of Osweg;o, ap- 
peared intent upon proceeding to Crown Point. Sir 
William Johnson was called to muster the hidians, 
to co-operate in that enterprise, but whether from an 
aversion to that new kind of warfare, or from mo- 
tives of deep and remote policy, these tribes were 
languid, and but fortj-tuo could be collected. 
Asliamed of such a handful, thirty-five of whom 
were the domiciliated Indians of Stockbridge. re- 
cruited by Mr. Wraxall, the Secretary for Indian 
affairs, and just rewarded as Captain of a com]);iny 
of Independents, for his services, as aid-de-camp at 
the action at Lake George, and to whose blazoned 
accounts, Sir William owed his knighthood. Tiiey 
were led to Fort Edward by the private route of 
Sacondaga. The Earl despised their succours, 
damned the Indian interest as a bubble, and retired 
to Albany for the winter cantonment of his troops. 

Of these he sent a thousand to New-York, dis- 
persed others in the neighbouring provinces, and 
left a surcharge in Albany, insisting upon new quar- 
ters, which gave rise to loud clamors. 

The magistrates of the capital had crowded the 
privates into the barracks, and left the officers, about 
fifty, to find lodgings for themselves. When the Earl 
came down in December, he sent for Mr. Cruger 
the mayor, and insisted that (he officers of every 
rank should be exempted from expense, and to sooth 
him, alleged that this was every where the custom; 
.and that he had in consideration of our efforts, put 
the army to inconveniences by so wide a dispersion, 
but signified, that if he made difficulties, he would 
convene all his troops here, and billet them himself. 
The mayor desired time to consult the body over 
which he presided. The death of his sister made it 
necessary to apologize i'%v the delay of the answer 
until her funeral obsequies were performed. But his 
lordship insisted upon a speedy compliance, and told 
the committee he would meet them on the subject; 
and to convince them that free quarters were every 
where usual, he would assert it upon his honor, 

3] 



242 [Chap. V. 

" which (says he) is the highest evidence you can re- 
quire." The demand took air; the citizents raved, 
and the corporation, consisting generally ot" elective 
officers, were at their wit's ends, concerning the 
course to be pursued. They flew to the governor, 
but he answered them with reserve, caution, and du- 
plicity. They called a meeting with the Judges and 
city members. Mr. Delancy did not attend till 
the second convention, and excused himself from 
giving an extrajudicial opinion, but it was supposed 
that Mr. Watts spoke his mind in favor of the peo- 
ple. The act lately passed, gave authority to billet 
first upon inns, and the surplus upon private houses; 
but supposing the irjhabitants were to be paid, au- 
thorised the magistrates to rate the allowance. Be- 
yond that, the magistrates durst not interfere through 
dread of prosecutions. A committee was appointed 
to his lordship, and another to present a memorial to 
the Governor, imploring his mediation, and asserting 
that free quarters were against the common law, and 
the petition of rights, the Stat. 21. Car. II. and the 
mutiny and desertion act ; and that the colonists 
were entitled to all the rights of Englishmen. The 
Governor escaped, for as soon as the Earl saw the 
opinion of the corporation, he replied to the may- 
or, who alone was admitted to his presence, " God 

d n my blood ! if you do not billet my officers 

upon free quarters this day, 1*11 order here all the 
troops in North America under my command, and 
billet them myself upon this city." The magistrates, 
countenanced by the conscious dread and impoten- 
cy of the citizens, promoted a subscription to defray 
the expense, and a calm ensued ; but with a general 
abhorrence of the oppressor, who soon after pro- 
ceeded through Connecticut to Boston. 

That the minister may lot impute the loss of Os- 
wego to the colony, Mr. Jones writes to the agent — 
"You have doubtless by this time heard of the unac- 
countable loss of Osw ego ; since which, the enemy 
have made no further attempts upon us, nor we upon 
them ; so that Crown Point fort remains still in their 



1756.] 243 

hands, and both sides are drawn into winter quarters. 
What the next summer will produce, the Almighty 
only knows. I assure you, our situation is now ex- 
tremely distressing. This province, being the princi- 
pal seat of the present war in America, is harassed 
and burdened in all shapes : soldiers quartered upon 
us without pay — our horses and carriages, some 
broke, some burned and destroyed by the enemy — 
our militia, frequently harassed by alarms, now ne- 
cessitated to make large marches, some to support 
the army on the north, others to repel the Indians 
from the western frontiers. Thus harassed, our peo- 
ple cannot attend to their usual occupations, and 
numbers are soon likely to be great sufTerers, and to 
become a burden to the rest. To this may be added 
another heavy article of expense, viz. the great num- 
ber of French sent here from Nova Scotia by Gover- 
nor Lawrence, and the prisoners taken at the battle 
at Lake George, in September 1755, with a number 
of others brought in here, as well by the Nightingale 
man of war, as by privateers. The expense attend- 
ing all articles, you will easily see must be very great. 
Our fifty-two thousand pounds are all called for, and 
we are obliged to break in upon the present made us 
by Parliament, which, in this expensive state of 
things, cannot last long ; and unless we have the fur- 
ther aid of our mother country, we must sink under 
the weight of these excessive pressures. Our ses- 
sion is tolerably well ended, the support bill being 
put in the usual manner." 

On the 16th of February, 1757, Sir Charles inform- 
ed his Assembly at Flatbush, that reinforcements 
were coming out ; that the people of the Massachu- 
setts Bay were to contribute, and pressed the imme- 
diate levying of our quota ; renewed his importunity 
for money to settle the partition line with New-Jer- 
sey and the Massachusetts Bay, blood having been 
lately spilled in the manor of Livingston; and pur- 
sued his object for the vacating of the patents, which 
he was pleased to call exorbitant grants. 



244 [Chap. V 

They promised their proportion for the prosecu- 
tion of" the war. to avoid the imputation of being in- 
slrumeiital in their own ruin by tedious delays and 
resohjtions, or an ill-timed parsimony ; but waived 
any provision for the settlement of lines, till th'^y 
could say with propriety that we had lands to divide :* 
intimated that the quit-rent^ were a proper fund to 
defray that expense; and respecting the grants, in- 
formed him that they were purchased by considera- 
ble sums, paid not only to the Indians, but the officers 
of government, in fees equal often to the value of the 
la;id granted ; that what he urged, was a proceeding 
barsli and dangerous, and now^ not necessary, as the 
Indians were not obstructed in the use of the land ; 
and that they thought it of more consequence to lay 
out a line of townships on the frontiers, to be given 
to settlers without fee or reward ; and, as the small- 
pox then compelled them to sit out of town, they 
wished to attend only to what respected the war. 

They continued together only ten days, and pro- 
vided lor levying one (housafid men, to act with four 
thousand from the Massachusetts Bay, under his 
Lordship's command, " which," says the Speaker, 
2bth February, ^' is our full proportion, according to 
the plan ofumon^3.n(\ was all his Lordship demanded." 

The sum appropriated for this purpose, was twen- 
ty-one thousand three hundred and sixty-nine pounds, 
twelve shillings and two-pence; and the Parliamen- 
tary present of fourteen thousand three hundred and 
twenty-three pounds, fifteen shillings and three- 
pence, sterling, which I mention as a detection of 
the artifices in the reasons given by both Houses for 
passing the late bill for prolonging the paper cur- 
rency, and the Speaker's suggestions of the distress 
of the colony. 



* A lonff memorial, drafted by Mr. Scott, to nrg'e the Assembly to make 
tbe coDtrovcrsy with Ntw-Jersev a provincial charge, and presented tlie 
13th of Fcbniarv, 175t5, was now printed, on the motion of Mr. Oliver 
Del.incey, who was not then become interested as a proprietor of New- 
Jcrscy. 



1757.] 245 



CHAPTER VI. 

From the absence of Sir Charles Hardy, on an Expedition 
againsi Marti nico, to the second asmmpiion of the Adminis- 
tration by Lieutenant Governor Ddancey. 

This was Sir Charles's last interview with the As- 
sembly ; for after that, he hoisted his flag as Rear 
Admiral of the Blue, with a command in the expedi- 
tion agai'ist Louisburgh. He embarked on the 2d of 
July, at midnight, and left the government in the 
hands of Mr. Delancey. who took the oaths the next 
morning. The inattention ot the Assembly at this 
time to the boundaries of the colony, was very inex- 
cusable. The Jersey proprietors took advantage of 
it, and urged their contempt of the royal instruction 
as a reason for ordering a temporary line, according 
to the observations of 1719, as the partition, until 
this colony provided a moiety of the expense for set- 
tling the boundaries by Commissioners. 

For the operations in this quarter, his Lordship 
left an army of five or six thousand men, under the 
command of General Webb: two thousand three 
hundred of these were posted at the south end of 
Lake George, fifteen hundred at Fort Edward, and 
the residue were scattered at Saratoga, Stillwater, 
Albany, Mount Hanson, and at Herkimer, in the 
country of the Mohawks. There were some who 
censured his leaving the frontiers in so weak a state 
of defence, and still more the wide dispersion of the 
troops; conceiving that they all should have been 
divided between the two great carrying-places on 
the north, from Hudson's River to Lake George, and 
between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek on the 
west, prepared for either of the two entrances of the 
enemy by Oritario or Champlain. 

Mr. Webb knew in July, that Mr. Montcalm, who 
succeeded Baron Dieskan. had collected several 



246 [Chap. VI. 

thousand men and three hundred flat boats at St. 
Johns, and that the enemy were daily filing off from 
Crown Point to Ticonderoga, and communicated ihis 
intelligence to Mr. Delancey, addirig, that he ex- 
pected an attack. Ten days afterwards (3d August) 
an express arrived with the further advice that the 
enemy were on the 30th July within twdve miles of 
Fort VVilliam. On the .^th Mr. Delancey embarked 
for Albany, and the day after we learnt that the Fort 
was invested on the 2d and complaints were made 
from above of the dilatory motions of the militia. 
Mr. Delancey arrived at Albany the Hth, and from 
thence issued orders for detachments from below. 
The New-York militia was drawn out for that pur- 
pose on the 13th. The horse and volunteers 
marched the same day, but the main body of seven 
hundred did not embark till some days after. While 
these things were transacting, on the sea coast, the 
garrison capitulated on the 9th, engaging not to bear 
arms in eighteen months. 

Lord Howe got to Fort Edward on Saturday the 
^th, but the besieged had no assistance, for the ene- 
my came, 11,000 strong, and our whole force in the 
lines about Fort Edward, did not amount till the 
10th, to more than 6,000. 

Mr. Fitch the Governor of Connecticut had no in- 
telligence of this descent till the 6th August ; but 
then ordered every fourth man of the Colony to 
march up : 4,000 were to be detached from New Jer- 
sey ; and Mr. Kilby the contractor arriving at New- 
York on the 14th, for provisions to support the multi- 
tudes who were on the way to Albany, it was con- 
jectured that Mr. Webbmeantto take that opportunity 
of advancing immediately to Crown Poirjt, till Mr. 
Oliver Delancey, Avho had been despatched that day 
from Albany, arrived on the 18th at New-York, and 
had stopped the progress of the reinforcements, 
and on the 22d the Lieutenant Governor returned to 
the metropolis. 

Mr. Webb's letter to Colonel Munroe, of the 4th, 
advising him to make the best terms he could, and 



1757.] 247 

that he was unable to help him, through the tardy 
motions of the militia, was intercepted by the enemy, 
and not sent until the 7th. When the garrison ca- 
pitulated, the trenches were opened almost up to 
the east bastion of the Fort, and by the bursting of 
a cannon. Colonel Munroe had but four left, with a 
mortar and only seventeen shells, and a very small 
quantity of powder. 

The garrison were to march out with the honors 
of war, their whole regiment and one piece of ordi- 
nance, and to protect them from the Indians, were 
to be escorted two miles by five hundred men, and 
these renewed by as many from Fort Edward. But 
the baggage was afterwards given up by Mr. Mont- 
calm's advice, to satisfy the French Indians, and yet 
they were so unmanageable after the plunder, as to 
butcher our negroes, and to attack even the soldiers. 
After the demolition of the Fort, the French retir- 
ed to Ticonderoga, and Mr. Webb then dismissed 
the twenty thousand men he had collected at Fort 
Edward, before his countermand of the provincial 
reinforcements. 

While the regulars and militia mutually reproach* 
ed each other for the late disaster, there were 
some who blamed Mr. Delancey for slighting Gene- 
ral Webb's first intimations, and others who insisted 
that the General was strong enough to march to the 
besieged forty-eight hours before the surrender. 
The General being supported by the British troops, 
and the Lieutenant Governor apprehending conse- 
quences unfriendly to his interest on the other side 
of the water, naturally looked to his Assembly, and 
the instant he arrived, despached circular letters for 
their convention ; and on the 2d sent them a message, 
historical of his conduct. Having alleged that the 
King had permitted Sir Charles Hardy to resign his 
government, and having noticed his departure, he 
proceeds in these words : 

" Soon after which, apprehending a visit from the 
enemy on our northern frontiers, I thought it necessa- 
ry to take all the measures in my power, to strength- 



218 [Chap. VL 

en General Wrbb : and tor this purpose, I sent out 
my orders to the Colonels ol" the militi.H of Albany, 
Dutchess, Ulster, and that part of Orange County 
above the mountains, to march with their regiments 
to the assistance of General W^ebb. upon his requi- 
sition, and to obey his orders, of which I gave him 
notice by letter. In the night of the 3d August last, 
I received a letter from General Webb of the JOth 
July, advising me, that the enemy were within twelve 
miles of Fort William Henry, that ho should imme- 
diately call iii the troops at the different posts on 
Hudson's River, and gave orders for the militia of 
the counties to march, and desiring my presence at 
Albany to forward them. I set out for that place on 
the 5th, which was as soon as I possibly could, and 
arrived there the 8th. On the iOth 1 had advice of 
the surrender of Fort Willi un Henry, and as it was 
reasonable to thiiik. th*^ enemy with so formidable 
an army and such a train of artillery as they were 
said to have, would endeavour to penetrate farther 
into this country. 1 sent orders for a detachment of 
five hundred men from the city of New-York, and 
West Chester, who showed a very becoming spirit 
on this occasion. Those above the Highlands had 
marched in cojisequence of my former orders on 
General Webb's requisition, aiid many proceeded to 
Fort Edward, but after a short stay. General Webb 
informed me, that all the militia, except those from 
the County of Albany, had united in a mutinous 
manner. I did all I could to stop them, but with 
little success. This step, whether arising from cow- 
ardice or disgust, or whatever other motive, deserves 
a very severe animadversion, more especially as it 
was taken up at a time when the enemy were still at 
Fort William Henry, (only fourteen miles distant 
from Fort Edward) the most advanced post we had 
in that quarter of the country. I shall order a strict 
inquiry to be made into the behaviour of the militia, 
and cause the law to be put into execution against 
all delinquents. I left Albany the 21st. and as soon 
as I came to New-York, 1 ordered circular letters to 



1757.J 249 

be sent, to call you together as soon as possible; 
one of the reasons of which was, to recommend to 
you the completins; the regiments in the pay of this 
province with the utmost speed. General Webb 
having written to the other governments to complete 
theirs, as the troops under his command were very 
much lessened. This was a measure apparently ne- 
cessary at that time; but as his Excellency the right 
Honourable the Earl of Loudon, commander in 
chief of his Majesty's forces in North America, is 
arrived here with a body of troops, the necessity of 
this measure ceases. The other reason of my call- 
ing you is, to recommend to you a further provision 
for the subsistence of the New York regiments." 

The House only gave a vote of credit the next 
day, to provide after the first of November for pay 
due after that period, and adjourned. 

The agent by his despatches of the 16th February, 
had communicated a copy of the New-Jersey peti- 
tion, for a temporary line, and the report of the board 
of trade upon it of the 27th January, 1757, advising 
an order for running the line prayed for; and first, 
that the Governor of the two provinces be command- 
ed to suppress and prevent all tumults on the bor- 
ders. Second, that all possessions remain in statu 
quo. Third, that the governor of New-York issue 
patents for vacant lands on the north side of the 
temporary line, and that the proprietors grant on the 
south, making a deposit of the profits ; and fourth, 
that six months be allowed to New-York to provide 
for the expense of a final line. The report recited 
that the allegations of the proprietors had been ve- 
i-ified by Sir Charles Hardy, and that Mr. Charles, 
styling himself agent for the assembly of New York, 
owned that he had no authority to join in the expense 
of a commission, and therefore, had submitted to 
such directions respecting a temporary line, as to his 
Majesty should seem proper. The agent wrote — 
••I prayed for further time before their Lordships 
proceeded upon the Petition, in hopes of hearing 
the resolution of vour House, touching (he method 

:^2 



250 [Chap. VI. 

jou proposed for the division ol' this matter, as I have 
repcate<lly appHcd to you for explicit and positive 
directions herein, but remaining hitherto without 
any instruction on that head, and reflecting that by 
the act passed in your Colony, (though disallowed 
here) you had left the establishment ol" the line of 
property, as well as of jurisdiction, to the direction 
of his Majesty ; it was not practicable for me to op- 
pose a temporary line of jurisdiction, or to prevent 
the issue this affair has taken." 

Nor was the Assembly at the same time unap- 
prised of the expediency of some alteration of the 
eastern boundary, disputed by the Massachusetts 
Bay. For Mr. Charles, on the 11 th May, added, " 1 
am now to acquaint you, that upon the representation 
of Sir Charles Hardy to the Lords of Trade, of di- 
vers outrages committed on the borders, between 
your Colony and the Massachusetts Bay, by his let- 
ter of the '22d December last, accompanied with a 
report of your Commissioners at Albany, in 1754, 
and a map of the country, all which have been com- 
municated to the respective agents, and having at- 
tended their Lordships on the subject, which I en- 
deavoured to show the inclinations of your Province, 
to bring this matter to an amicable accommodation ; 
first, by imparting to the Governor of the Massachu- 
setts Bay, the claim of New York, as stated in the' 
report of the Committee of your Council, of the 28th 
February, 1753, which were rejected by the Com- 
missioners of the JMassachusetts Bay, without any 
reason assigned, or their stating their own claims 
and pretensions. Their Lordships delivered their 
opinion of a boundary line, proper to be established 
between the two governments, as contained in an ex- 
tract of their Lordships' journal ; whereof I send a 
copy enclosed, touching which, it is probable I may 
receive the sentiments of your Colony before the 
report of the board obtains the sanction of the King 
in Council.'' 

The Extract was in these words — "Extract of the 
Journals of the Proceedings of tlie Lords on Tues- 
day the 27th March 1757. 



3 757.] 251 

"Their Lordships took into consideration the pa- 
pers relating to the dispute between the Province of 
New-York and Massachusetts Bay, concerning their 
boundary line; and the agents attending as desired, 
were called in, and .their Lordships after having 
heard what they had to offer, and read and consider- 
ed the grant to the Duke of York, in 1663-4, and the 
Massachusetts Charter, granted in 1691, and also a 
letter from Colonel Nicholls, Governor in New-York, 
to the Duke of York, dated in November 1665, to 
hear and determine certain points in dispute, amongst 
the New-England Governments, which papers are 
upon record in this office ; delivered it to be their 
opinion, that a straight line, to be drawn northerly 
from that point, where the boundary line between 
New-York and Connecticut ends, at twenty miles 
distance from Hudson's River, to another point at the 
same distance from the said river, on that line which 
divides the Provinces of New-Hampshire and Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, will be a just and equitable line of 
division between the said Province of New-York and 
the Massachusetts Bay ; and Mr. BoUan being asked 
if he had any objections thereto, desired time to 
consider of it, and that he might have their Lord- 
ships' opinion in writing, and also copies of their 
authorities upon record, on which that opinion was 
founded, which was agreed to by their Lordships, 
and that copies should be likewise given to Mr. 
Charles, agent for New-York, and then the agents 
withdrew. Governor Nicholls' letter was this — 

" I have formerly rendered account of the division 
and settlement of bounds between your Royal High- 
ness and the Patent of Connecticut, made by His 
Majesty's Commissioners and the Governor and 
Council of Connecticut, wherein five towns were re- 
linquished in Connecticut by virtue of their for- 
mer grant from His Majesty ; although the said 
tracts of land were given to your Royal Highness to 
the utter ruin of that Colony, and a manifest breach 
of their later patent, whic4i determination was a lead- 
ing case of equal justice, and of great good conse- 



252 iChap. \ I. 

quence in all the colonies; and therefore we were 
assured would be unacceptable service to your Roy- 
al Highness, so that to the east of New-York and 
Hudson's River, nothing considerable remains to 
your Royal Highness, except Long Island, and about 
twenty miles from any part of Hudson's River. I 
look tlicrefore upon all the rest as empty name, and 
places possessed forty years since by former grants, 
andofnoconsequence to your Royal Highness, except 
all New England could be brought to submit to your 
Royal Highnesses Patent." 

The report of the Commissioners appointed in 
1 664, to visit the New England Governments, relating 
to the bounds of the Massachusetts Colony, was also 
transmitted by the agent, running thus — 

" This Colony, which has engrossed the whole 
trade of New-England, is therefore the richest ; hath 
many towns, but not one regularly built within its 
just limits; which the Commissioners find to be 
Siwanet Brook on the south-west, and Merrimack 
River on the north-east; and two right lines drawn 
from each of those two places, till they come within 
twenty miles of Hudson's River, for that river is 
already planted and given to his Royal Highness." 

The Speakers letter of 12th September, ack- 
nowledges the receipt of these letters, adding,"! 
am to acquaint you, that you are fallen greatly 
Under the censure of the General Assembly, for not 
objecting to the line of the year J 617, being the tem- 
porary line of jurisdiction between this Colony and 
that of New-Jersey, as you were long since well in- 
formed that this Colony always rejected that line. 
A Committee is appointed to examine and consider 
the New-Jersey Petition on that head, and to give 
proper instructions upon it." This is proved by the 
journal. But why another was not charged with the 
care of the proprietors, affected by an opinion of 
the Lords of Trade, I leave to the reader's conjec- 
tures, after remarking, that the Delancey family, who 
were interested in the New-Jersey controversy, had 
not the same motives to stimulate their attention. 



J 757. J ii.^3 

to that with the Massachusetts Bay, and were per- 
haps (lisincHned to counteract Mr. Secretary Pow- 
nall, who, to ingratiate his brother with the peo- 
ple, over whom lie was set, discovered a 2;reat desire 
to abridge the old claim of New-York to all the coun- 
try between this twenty mile line and Connecticut 
River. Mr. Jones, indeed, leads Mr. Charles to 
expect a letter upon this subject, from the New-York 
Commissioners, but the journal does not warrant his 
suggestion. The committee on the other subject, 
were the interested members of New-York and 
Orange County, who sharply reprehended the agent 
for not opposing the report respecting a temporary 
line, in a letter drafted by Mr. Scott, 25th October. 
But the House would have better consulted the in- 
terests of the Colony, by bills providing for the ex- 
pense of Commissioners for settling all their contested 
limits, though the session, instead of two had been 
prolonged to ten days. 

The Board of Trade shortly after changed their 
opinion, and adopted a still more disadvantageous 
one to this Colony, as appeared by the following ex- 
tract from their journals of 10th May, 1751 : 

" The Secretary acquainted their Lordships, that 
having in consequence of their orders communicated 
to Mr. Bollan, agent for the Massachusetts Bay, their 
resolution of the 27th March last, with respect to the 
boundary line between the said province and New- 
York; he acquainted him that upon consideration 
thereof, and of the papers relating to the adjustment 
of the line between the Province of Nrw-York and 
Connecticut, he had found that thougli it did appear 
to have been the primary intention in that settlement, 
that the line should be twenty miles from j^udson's 
River, yet the Province of New-York, having agreed 
that Connecticut should continue in possession of 
the town of Greenwich, and a tract of land adjacent 
thereto, at the south end of the line, the Province of 
Connecticut had, in consideration thereof, yielded to 
them a tract of land lying upon the northern part of 
said line, commonly called the Oblong: so that in 



2J.| [Chap. VI. 

fiis apprehension, the said boundary line was at more 
than twenty miles distance from the said Hudson's 
lliver; and therefore he submitted, whether the 
drawiniij the boundary hne between New-York and 
Massachusetts Bay from the north end of the said 
Connecticut line, as described in the board's resolu- 
tion of the 27th Marcli, would not be in some mea- 
sure inconsistent witli the facts and evidence upon 
which that resolution was founded, and thought it 
necessary to have their Lordships' sentiments upon 
liiis matter, before he could form any opinion upon 
tiie general proposition. 

"Their Lordships, upon consideration of what had 
been represented by Mr. Bollan, agreed, that a 
straight line, to be drawn northerly from a point on 
the south boundary line of the Massachusetts Bay, 
twenty miles distant, due east from Hudson's River, 
on that line which divides the provinces of New- 
Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, will be a just 
and equitable line of division between the said Pro- 
vinces of New-York and Massachusetts Bay." 

This opinion being approved by the privy Council, 
and producing a letter from the Secretary of State, 
recommending that line to both provinces, the sequel 
will show that we never could remove this obstacle 
to the extent of our claim, even so far eastward as to 
cover several ancient patents under this Colony. 

The disgrace incurred by the British troops, si- 
lenced their invectives. His Lordship had done 
nothing against Louisburgh, and was censured by his 
whole army. On the first intelligence of Montcalm's 
attack, he wrote to Mr. Pownall, who had lately 
arrived as Governor at Boston, that he intended to 
encamp^ on Long Island for the defence of the continent ; 
and that Governor on the other hand, was in such 
consternation, as to give orders for the driving in all 
the live stock in the west, to the east side of Con- 
necticut River; and it had taken air, that Mr. Webb 
had intimidated his troops, by sending his own bag- 
gage to Albany, declaring his intention of retreating 
one hundred and sixty miles down the river to the 



1757.] ' 255 

Highlands, and within sixty miles ot the metropolis 
of the Province. What impression the Assembly 
wished to make at this time, in England, appears 
from the Speaker's letter to the agent of the I2lli 
September. " As to our military operations, we are 
still on the losing side. Fort William Henry on the 
back of Lake George, being taken and demolished 
by the enemy, after a siege of eight days, with no 
great loss of men on either side. It surrendered on 
capitulation, by which the French became masters 
of the fort, artillery, and all the stores. Here were 
lodged all our cannon and stores intended against 
Crown Point. My Lord Loudon is arrived from 
Halifax, without any attempt on that side. It is said, 
the enemy were superior to us, both in land and sea 
forces. Thus, this campaign is like to end as did the 
last, with loss to poor America. It seems very 
strange to us, that the French can send such large 
supplies to America and always before us, notwith- 
standing the great superiority of the British navy. 
Surely there must be a great failure somewhere, 
which if not timely remedied, may probably end in 
the entire loss of the English America. However, 
we live still in hopes that the next year's succours 
will be stronger and arrive earlier, our provincial 
forces were ready in April, so that no blame can be 
at our doors. I wish my next may give you better 
tidings." 

Mr. Delancey's vindicatory speech was the more 
necessary, as he knew that his public conduct had 
of late been narrowly watched, and his arts during 
General Shirley's command, were disclosed by a 
pamphlet, published in London, under the title of ^ 
'•' A review of the military operations in North Amc- ' 
rica." 

Mr. Charles, in a private letter to the Speaker of 
the 11th May, accompanying a copy of it, writes, 
'' there has been lately pubhshed here, a piece which 
I shall send you, entitled, a review, &c. This pro- 
duction comes from New-York, and has been handed 
to the press by Mr. Alexander, as he acknowledged 



256 [Chap. VI. 

to Mr. Pownall, becrctaiy to tiio Board of Trade. 
There is a viruiency against several private charac- 
ters, and some reflections on the proceedings of your 
association, extremely indecent. I believe the Gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts Bay is put in a fair way by 
his brother of discovering the author. 

No reply was ever made to it. Mr. Jones' letters 
take no notice of it. Secretary Pownall, by menac- 
ing Dodsley the printer, traced it to Mr. WiUiam 
Alexander, who denied his being the author ; but 
asserted that he knew most of the suggestions to be 
true, and these facts not alleged', which convinced 
liim that his brother the Governor, for whom he 
interposed, deserved the character it exhibited. 
The pamphlet coming out when America was little 
known, and transactions here still less, was univer- 
sally read and talked of in London, and worked con- 
sequences of private and public utility. 

General Shirley emerged from a load of obloquy.* 
His extensive designs acquired advocates ; his suc- 
cessors became cautious and vigilant; the nation 
suspicious and inquisitive. His Assembly awed. 
Party spirit less assuming, and the multitude so en- 
lightened, that several changes were made on the 
next dissolution. 

'The ineificacy of the measures hitherto pursued 
in America, fdled the colonies with distrust ; but few 
discerned the true cause of our disasters. They are 
hinted at in a letter of that day — " tTo the scandal of 
the })resent age will history account these losses, 
sustained by a people who had it in their power to 
extirpate the whole French Colony at their pleasure. 
You know, and every man here knows, that we might 
have raised forty thousand men on such a design, if 
our strength was united, a number equal to all the 



■'' A hn-xrd of general oflicers had been ordcreil to inquire into his con- 
(Inct, and the secretary at war was commanded to make out ihe warrant 
for it. Mr. Shirley often urged for it, and after repeated applicatioos. 
was told that it could not be doue, since there was nothing charged agaiubt 
him. 

f It was written by the author August I7r<7; to a gentleman in London. 



IToT.] 257 

males in Canada. That union can in a moment be 
effected, by a law for the establishment of an Ameri- 
can parliament. While each colony is left to divert 
itself with its private contentions, the common in- 
terest must suffer ; whereas a convention of members 
from each, for a general representation of all, would 
extinguish the party disputes now subsisting. Penn- 
sylvania, a colony of fifty thousand fighting men, 
must then do her part; and when that day dawns, 
the little tyrants of the respective colonies will die 
away with these projects, and our affairs be well un- 
understood in England. You have a Board of Trade, 
and their Lordships are presumed to have the best 
acquaintance with the true state of America. We 
have fifteen colonies on the Continent alone ; each 
three separate branches of the Legislature, all trans- 
mitting their several acts, votes, &c. to the Plantation 
Office. These must all be read for information con- 
cerning our state. But is it possible for that board 
to take even a cursory perusal of the papers trans- 
mitted ? and yet something more than tliat is necessa- 
ry. I conclude from these premises, that their Lord- 
ships do not know the state of America. Consider, 
besides, that their acts affect a body which is in to- 
day, but out to-morrow; and \{ they are uninformed, 
what must be the consequence t A law for the estab- 
lishment of a union, I know, requires the ablest heads. 
Parliament is sufficient for the task. The defects of 
the first plan will be supplied by experience. The 
British constitution ought to be the model ; and from 
our knowledge of its faults, the American one may, 
perhaps, rise with more health and soundness in its 
first contexture, than Great Britain will ever enjoy.'* 
The Earl went to Albany on the 20th of October,* 
and thence for a few days visited Fort Edward, and 
there met Colonel Peter Schuyler, who was made 
prisoner at the surrender of Oswego. He left Quebec 
the 22d October, and reached New-York the 19th 



* GJovernor Morris sailed for Eagland 4th October, to animate the ^d 
ministration to iin cxpeditiou againbt Canuda. 



■258 , [Chap. VI. 

Noveiiibor, upon iiis parole, to letarn in May, unless 
a cartel was settled. The troops from Halifax, on 
their return, were immediately ordered to Albany. 
His Lordship posted but one hundred and fifty men 
at Herkimer, a little fort about one hundred miles 
west of Albany ; and Montcalm, taking advantage of 
their public influence on the .Six Nations, debauched 
five hundred from the four remote cantons of the 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, to join 
a French party who fell upon the German Flats on 
the 15th of November, massacred and carried others 
into captivity, and broke up several families of that 
settlement ; and thus ended the unfortunate year of 
1757. His Lordship cantoned his troops in several 
of the provinces with such a magisterial tone as gave 
fresh and general offence. From the civil depart- 
ment he met with no opposition. Their pusillanimi- 
ty or their interests, made them silent and inactive 
until the multitude exulted at the news which not 
long after arrived, of his being recalled to England. 

Before the close of this unfortunate year, Mr. De- 
lancey had another interview with his Assembly. 

The small -pox prevailing in the centre of the cap- 
ital, he convened them in the suburbs ; and as it was 
ludicrously said, at his own kitchen. The truth is, 
they met on the 6th December in an out-house, occu- 
pied by the overseer of his own farm upon the skirts 
of the town. 

One of the main designs was to procure an indem- 
nity for himself and the Council, for diverting £2000, 
which had been appropriated for fortiiicatioiis, from 
that use, for the construction of barracks, that private 
famihes might be delivered from the inconvenience 
of the soldiers billeted upon them by the noble 
general at the head of the army, and which they 
ventured to draw out of the treasury at the re- 
quest of the city corporation, who had engaged to 
replace it. But he held up other objects to their 
attention. The salaries of the year, the defence of 
the western frontiers, the maintenance of the prison- 
ers, restraining the King's troops from intemperance, 



1757.J 259 

Ihe regulations of the staples of flour, beef, pork, 
and butter, a stricter militia law, the continuance 
of the excise upon tea and the stamp duty, a poll 
tax upon negro slaves, and a tonnage duty on all 
vessels, not excepting those from Great Britain. 

Several laws for ordinary cases were passed, to- 
wards the end of the month, and among them, one to 
prolong the currency of the bills of credit, the royal 
inhibition notwithstanding, without the least hesita- 
tion. 

To the Lieutenant Governor, the Assembly gave 
an augmented salary of £1800, and £400 more un- 
der the pretext of fire and light for the independent 
companies now scattered through the provinces, and 
the sum of £50 was added to the puisne judges' sala- 
ries, as a consideration for their extraordinary ser- 
vices, unassisted as they were, by the Chief Justice's 
absence from the bench. And the day before they 
rose, care was taken to order the Speaker to write to 
Sir Charles Hardy, who went from Halifax to Eng- 
land, to answer, as it was conjectured, the double 
purpose of preserving his commission and prolonging 
his return. 

Mr. Jones's letter was doubtless very agreeable to 
our Admiral, just arrived from an unsuccessful expe- 
dition. I transcribe it here, and insert beneath the 
one from the agent that covered it.* 



=!=Sir — Enclosed you have a letter to Sir Charles Hardj', our late Govern- 
or, which you are to deliver to him with your own hands, and to consult and 
advise with him in affairs relating to this Colony. We are greatly sur- 
prised to find that their Lordships for trade and plantations, have made a 
second report to his Majesty on tlie affair of the Massachusetts line, by^ 
which we shall be great losers, because by the course of Hudson's River, 
a due east line from the stations, we are to run from and to, will fall some 
miles short of twenty, which by the first report we were to have. You are 
therefore to use your best endeavors to prevent such a loss to this Colony. 
The committee and commissioners will write more largely to you on this 
head. We are also greatly surprised, that this affair should be transacted 
without your privity, (which we must suppose to be the case) because 
you have given us no notice of it. If you knew of it, you have been greatly 
deficient iu your duty, and are justly liable to censure for not opposng 
it, and acquainting us with it. ' The House have not yet finished the busi- 
ness before tliem. ?nd are to meet soon after the holidavs. After that I' 



26(1 [Chap. VI. 

New-York, 24Ui Dec. 1757. 

Sir, 

By the enclosed minutes you will see the author- 
ity I have to write to you, in the name of the General 
Assembly of this his Majesty's Colony; and I assure 
you, Sir, that it is with the utmost pleasure I execute 
this authority, in a grateful acknowledgment of your 
past and steady attention to the puhlic service of the 
Colony from the first moment of your arrival in it. 
My station of speaker to the General Assembly dur- 
ing- your whole administration, furnished me with 
frequent opportunities of observing with pleasure, 
that the welfare and prosperity of his Majesty's sub- 
jects committed to your care, was your chief and 
})rincipal study. Surely no Governor ever attended 
the public service with more assiduity, or more 
speedily pursued the good of those he governed. 
This, Sir, assures us that though you have left us, 
you will not forget us, but will on every suitable occa- 
sion assist our agent, Mr. Robt. Charles, on what may 
relate to this Colony, and represent us in a favorable 
light to our most gracious Sovereign, to whose per- 
son, family and government, this Colony has a most 
sincere andinviolable attachment. 1 do, in the name 
of the General Assembly, most heartily congratulate 
you on your preferment in his Majesty's navy, and 
assure you, that you have their most ardent wishes, 
and, I am persuaded, of the whole province ; that 
success, honor, and happiness, may attend you in 
that and every other station to which Divine Provi- 
dence shall call you. 

While we were in suspense respecting the plan 
expected for the operations of the ensuing year, the 
military officers indulged great heats concerning the 
inactivity of the last campaign. Lord Charles Hay 



expect to write to you aj^ain on the affair of the Jersey line also. An 
order is made out for your last year's allowance, and the same continued 
for another year ; but how it will be after that I cannot say. The House 
have not proceeded to the exatniuatioQ of accounts, when they do, you 
vvill fall under consideration. 



led a party at Halifax in severe reflections on the 
Earl of Loudon. Their animosities spread to New- 
York ; and among the discontented, no man indulged 
in greater liberties than Mr. Lee, then a subaltern, 
who did not restrain himself in the open coffee-house, 
from calling it the Cabbage Planting Expedition ; 
drawing into question not only the Earl's military 
skill, but his courage and integrity : and others were 
divided respecting the northern events. There were 
advocates for Mr. Webb, who insisted that Fort Wil- 
liam Henry was unnecessarily surrendered, while 
those who adhered to Colonel Young, impeached 
that General, not only for neglecting to relieve the 
besieged, but for the loss of the German Flats, by 
demolishing the fort at the great carrying-place in 
1756. For Mr Webb, it was affirmed, that he was 
not 3000 strong at Fort Edward, till the day before 
the capitulation ; that he then wrote to Monroe, that 
he Avas on the point of marching to his aid, but over- 
persuaded by Young to give up the fort. As to 
the demolition of the western fort; in order to acquit 
Webb, it was averred to be in consequence of the 
Earl's positive orders. 

Whatever the real design, certainly to the height 
of these animosities it was owing, that a winter attack 
upon Ticonderoga was talked of, and Lord Howe 
mentioned as the person who was to lead that en- 
terprise. His Lordship then commanded a regiment 
quartered on Long Island. The carpenters at Albany 
were employed in framing small sleds to be drawn 
by hand ; snow shoes were provided ; worsted caps 
bought up; a new corps of five hundred Rangers 
formed under Colonel Gage, and Rogers ordered to 
raise one thousand men, of which he was to be Major 
Commandant. But after a few weeks nothing more 
was heard of this undertaking, and the obloquy was 
transferred from Webb and Young, to the Eail of 
Loudon, already expressed by the joint calumnies of 
his own army and the provinces. Mr. Webb win- 
tered with him in town ; but General Abercrombic 
took no part in these quarrels, and quietly passed his 



202 [Chap. V. 

time at Albany, where he received the pubhc inti- 
mation of the extensive project of making a conquest 
of all Canada, and his own advancement to the 
command of a great army, to be composed of the 
British troops, augmented by the whole force of the 
colonies. 

Mr. Delancey collected the Assembly, and made a 
speech to them on the 1 0th March, 1758, in which he 
incorporated the animating terms of Mr. Pitt's cir- 
cular letter, for setting all the wheels in motion to 
raise 20,000 provincials. The King was to furnish 
all the arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions : the 
levying, clothing, and p.iy, we were to defray, with a 
promise of being relieved according to our active 
vigor and strenuous efforts, by a parliamentary reim- 
bursement. 

" I hope," says the Lieutenant Governor, " a num- 
ber of ballot men will have at heart the honor of 
a brave and the best of Kings ; and will voluntarily 
and cheerfully engage in a service, on the success of 
which their properties, their civil and religious liber- 
ties depend. 

Nothing could be more grateful to the majority of 
the people than the design proposed. The Assem- 
bly promised their aid without a moment's hesitation, 
and resolved to raise, clothe, and pay two thousand 
six hundred and eighty men, with ten pounds bounty ; 
for every volunteer, and tweniy shillings to the officer 
for every recruit. And the Lieutenant Governor 
and Council, to favor the levies, laid an immediate 
embargo. The House voted to maintain every poor 
soldier's family in his absence ; and to defray the ex- 
pense, bills were emitted for £100,000, to be can- 
celled by a tax for nine years. The necessary law 
was passed, and the Assembly dismissed before the 
end of the month, without the least jar among the 
legislators upon this subject, though the Council had 
refused their assent to the favorable project for ex- 
tending the power of the government, by enlarging 
the influence and authority of the Trustees of the 
Peace. 



1758.] 26,1 

Mr. NicoU brought in the five-pound bill on the 
1st December preceding, and four days afterwards 
it was sent to the Council. On the 23d thej were 
stimulated as to the progress respecting what "the 
good people of the colony had so much at heart," 
and were answered, that while the bill was in com- 
mittee, a petition was presented to be heard against 
it, w hich that House intended to grant after the holi- 
days. Another more important message by Mr. 
Watts and Colonel Delancey, respecting it, was de- 
livered on the 3 1 st January ; addhig, that this House, 
in justice to their constituents, cannot avoid being 
solicitous about a bill, which experience has shown 
to be attended with such happy effects in the seve- 
ral counties where it took place, and which the dis- 
interested part of the good people of this Colony 
are impatiently expecting to see continued, and 
therefore, that their just expectations may not be dis- 
appointed, and that the city of New-York, and such 
other parts of the colony as have hitherto been ex- 
cluded, and where its use is apparently necessary, 
may no longer be deprived of the benefits almost 
universally acknowledged to arise therefrom — the 
House hopes the Council will not continue to defer 
their concurrence thereto. 

The Upper House took no umbrage at the unpar- 
liamentary mode of arguing and corresponding with 
each other, but simply replied, that the day formally 
appointed for the hearing, would not arrive till the 
8th instant. Before that they were irregularly ad- 
journed, from the 4th of February to the 7th of March, 
on a letter from the Lieutenant Governor to the 
Speaker. 1 observed that he chose to make a speech 
to them after the receipt of Mr. Pitt's letter, though 
there had been no end of the session. The Council 
unmoved, sent down the bill with amendments, and 
the same morning (21st March) were informed that 
the House would not concur in them, and thus the 
fate of the bill was suspended ; the Council adhering 
to their alterations, and the Lower House being, as 
ivas then supposed, satisfied with the amazing influ- 



2b4 [Chap. \. 

cncc which the new commissioners for raisiii£j the 
army would create prior to the election near at hand, 
in consequence of the septennial act passed in the 
time of Mr. Clinton, who was censured for a practice 
in whicth he was now enslaved, that of filling up vacan- 
cies in the counties, according to the nomination of the 
members, some of whom were trusted w ith blanks to 
be filled up at their pleasure. But on the nearer 
approach of the dissolution, the Assembly rescinded 
their first vote, and concurred with the amendments, 
and the bill was passed. 

Mr. Amherst was to accomplish the conquest of 
Cape Breton, the island of St. Johns and their de- 
pendencies. Mr. Forbes commanded in the enter- 
prise against the French forts on the Ohio; but the 
main army for penetrating Canada through the north- 
ern Lakes, was to be conducted by Mr. Abercrombie. 

Fort Edward was the place of rendezvous. The 
New-York troops were all levied and collected there 
a fortnight before; the stores arrived fi-om England 
about the middle of June, under convoy of the Van- 
guard ; not long after which, the forces of the Colo- 
nies came in. By the activity of Lord Howe, and 
Lieutenant Colonel Bradstreet, the boats were for- 
warded with speed, and Lord Howe led the first 
division of 4000 men, before the end of June to Lake 
George. General Abercrombie followed with tiu^ 
main body, and on the 6th July, the whole army 
landed at the north end of those waters. 

They defeated (to use the words of Mr. Jones' 
letter to the agent of the 2d November) a party, who 
went against them and got possession of all the 
ground between the place of landing and theFrencli 
fort at Ticonderoga; but meeting with a small re- 
pulse there, they immediately (at least as appeared 
to us) gave up all the advantages they had gained, 
and hastily returned back over the Lake again, and 
nothing has been attempted since in that quarter. 
Where the faults lay we cannot take upon us to say. 
but it appears to us to be more in the head than thr* 
hodi/. 



2 758.] History of JVew- York. 265 

Lord Howe, on the march to the lake, fell a 
sacrifice to his valour in a conflict with the French 
advanced guard. Brigadier Prevost, in a letter of the 
3d August, informed the author, that the army 
marched in the best order; but from ignorance in the 
officers, or the indocility of the troops, they took 
fright on the report of a few muskets, and instantly 
dispersed. That this happened twice in two hours. 

The works at Ticonderoga were trifling : they had 
piled logs on the land side in a line for a breastwork, 
and trees before it to embarrass the assailants. Mr, 
Abercrombie, who was two miles in the rear, aiid 
not informed that there was at one end an open 
access to the French encampments, ordered an attack 
with musketry alone, upon that part of the line 
which was finished and fortified with cannon, and 
there we sustained the loss in killed and wounded : 
nearly two thousand brave men, who were advancing 
with the utmost difficulty, greatly obstructed by an 
abattis of trees. 

The French General, who was just within the lines, 
perceived our folly, stripped off his clothes, and with 
a drawn sword, forbid a musket to be fired upon the 
pain of the severest punishment, until he gave the 
word. When, embarrassed and unable to fly back, 
he issued the word of command, and our front was 
mowed down like grass. Hearing of the slaughter 
Mr. Abercrombie ordered a retreat ; he hurried them 
on the night of the 7th to the Lake, where they em- 
barked with the utmost precipitation, nor even then 
abated their speed till they had passed its whole 
length. 

Colonel Peter Schuyler, who was then a prisoner 
in Canada, informed the author that Mr. Montcalm's 
whole force there and at Crown Point did not exceed 
three thousand men ; nor their killed and taken both 
within the lines and at the advanced guard, two hun- 
dred and thirty ; and that from a dread of our vast 
superiority, they had actually before our retreat pre- 
pared to abandon Crown Point, 

31 



266 Smith'^s Continuation of the [Chap. VL 

Lieutenant Colonel Bradstrcet, impatient of this 
disgrace, and hoping nothing from a General, who, 
while he calumniated his army as broken-spirited, 
discovered that he wanted firmness himself, urged 
an attempt upon Frontenac. He was sent to Oswego 
hi 1755, was there again in 1756, and had entered 
into Shirley's views of the importance of command- 
ing the waters of Ontario, and offered his services to 
conduct tlie enterprise. Abercrombie gave him a 
detachment of three thousand men; he rather flew 
than marched with them through that long route from 
Lake George to Albany, and thence again up the 
stream of the Mohawk River, then across the postage, 
down the Wood Creek to the lake of the Oneidas, 
and the rapids of the Onondago to Oswego. Thence 
lie pushed his open boats into the sea of Ontario, 
traversing the south-eastern coast from point to 
Point, till he crossed the St. Lawrence and sur- 
prised the garrison of Frontenac. He invested it, 
took it, burnt an immense magazine for the supply 
of the interior dependencies, and in twenty-four days 
after having destroyed the vessels on the Lake, re- 
turned to assist in securing the important pass in the 
country of the Oneidas, which Mr. Webb had the 
year before abandoned to the intimidation of all the 
six Indian tribes. But either by the fatigue of these 
vigorous exertions, or the bad quality of the waters 
of the Wood Creek, we lost five hundred men of this 
detachment, a great part of whom were levies of this 
colony. The author's letter to Governor Morris, 
enclosing one from Mr. Dubois, who was a captain 
under Bradstreel, brought the first intelligence of 
this event to England. He desired an audience to 
communicate it to Mr. Secretary Pitt, who received 
liim, and unassisted, entered into so copious a dis- 
play of its consequences, that his informer lost, what 
was one of the ends of the interview, not having a 
thought to add to the sagacious remarks of that bold, 
active, and discerning statesman, who appeared to 
fee accurately informed of the inland geography of 



1758.] History of New- York. 267 

America, then understood even in this country only 
by an inquisitive few. 

It was imagined that Mr. Abcrcrombie would re- 
new the attack, but the author learnt from General 
Prevost that some additional works at Lake George 
engrossed all his attention, and that the campaign 
would end as shamefully as it had begun. Havhig 
communicated the public censures on his conduct in 
that quarter, so early as the 2 1st of July, his an- 
swer did not admit that the General was culpable in 
recrossing the Lake, and seemed to hint that there 
could be but little dependence on the provincials. 

The author, on the 13th of September expressed 
himself thus : — 

'• Though some of the Colony troops seemed to 
discover a temper not very encouraging at the first 
landing, is it not true, that they behaved with spirit 
in the attack ? or, which is sufficient to my purpose, 
did not the General think so, when orders were given 
to thank them publicly for their gallantry ? was not 
their universal surprise at the retreat some proof 
that their minds were then firm, and not broken by a 
panic ? and does not the rapidity with which thev 
were brought off^ demonstrate that no time was spent 
to examine the temper of the army ? what are your re- 
flections on the General's orders, on the cannon and 
baggage to New- York. Provincials reduced Louis- 
burgh the last war. Acadie was reduced mostly by 
provincials. Dieskau was taken by the Colony trooj)s. 
The rangers are colonists. Provincials cut off Kill- 
anning, and by provincials we lately destroyed Fron- 
tenac. You will agree with me that irregulars will 
be of use for a surprise in a weakly fortified, wooden 
country. When provincials succeed in one kind of 
service, most men think them fit for all. This indeed 
is arguing ill, and nothing will show it to be bad logic 
so soon, as better conduct on the part of the regu- 
lars. What think you of rebuilding Osweg6 ? If 
the war continues another campaign, I can't help 
thinking that in a general invasion of Canada, five or 
six thousand troops sent down the Cataraqui stream 



ilG8 Smith's Coniinuatton of the' [Chap. \ I. 

U'ould greatly favor the descent of a larger army 
^h^ough Champlain, and a fleet on the river." 

The reply of the 28th has these passages — 

" I have no answer to make in regard to the Gene- 
ral's orders to Cummings on the night of the attack, 
for I am at a loss to defend a bad canse^RS I should be 
to give up Rgood one. Provincials have performed all 
you relate, and had they been properly led, it is my 
just opinion, they might have done more, but for all 
that, they ivere not in the least fit for the service we 
are upon. 1 do not know verily, whether we shall 
attempt this year to retrieve our losses, but we are 
in readiness with regard to all the necessary imple- 
ments and provisions ; and if any thing is still wanting, 
I am pretty certain it will be at the lake before the 
reinforcement of the regulars can come from Boston." 

When the five regiments from Louisburgh landed 
there, and marched slowly to find winter quarters at 
Albany, they had not the least intimation that Mr. 
Abercrombie suspended his re-attempts for their 
junction, and then heard it for the first time with 
surprise. The controversy then arose respecting the 
fault which was at last charged upon Mr. Pownall the 
Governor of Boston, to whom Mr. Abercrombie had 
entrusted despatches to Mr. Amherst for reinforce- 
ments immediately after the retreat from Carillon. 
But the season was elapsed. The French had gath- 
ered in their harvest. The British fleet had left the 
St. Lawrence, and the whole force of Canada was 
collected on Lake Champlain, and by the middle of 
October, the victors from Louisburgh were in winter 
cantonments. 

The operations terminated in the north-west, in 
the construction of a respectable fort in the country 
of the Oneidas, and it was called Stanwix, in com- 
pliment to the General who commanded in that quar- 
ter. 

The account of the loss of Louisburgh on one side, 
and of Frontenac on the other, arrived at Montreal 
on the same day. The militia of that island and 
jieighbourhood were instantly commanded up the St. 



J 758.] Histonj of jYew-Vork. 269 

Lawrence to repair the demolished fort. Colonel 
Peter Schuyler was witness to the consternation of 
the French colony. The whole force sent to Fron- 
tenac did not exceed fifteen hundred men, and upon 
a false alarm of Bradstreet's second approach, the 
greatest part of them abandoned the works, and de- 
scended the river with the utmost precipitation ; the 
dispirited populace considering their country as lost. 

But our success on Ontario had still more exten- 
sive effects, and verified in fact what Shirley long 
had beheld in speculation. The Indians now changed 
their temper, A peace was established at Easton in 
October, not only with the six nations, but all the 
barbarians on the waters of the Delaware and the 
Susquehannah. The reduction of Frontenac con- 
tributed also to the progress of General Forbes on 
the Ohio. The enemy abandoned Fort Du Quesne 
on his approach, and a treaty was concluded with 
the numerous savages in that remote country, who 
had, after Bradstreet's defeat, spread desolation 
along the interior frontier of all the southern colonies. 
Frederick Root, after the treaty of Easton, ventured 
amongst them at the hazard of his life, and convened 
eight hundred of their warriors at a council fire on 
the western bank of the Ohio, near Fort Du Quesne. 
The AUeghanies, consisting of four hundred fighting 
men, who formerly inhabited Pennsylvania, New- 
Jersey, and the western parts of this province, agreed 
to meet at Philadelphia at such time as Mr. Denny 
the Governor of Pennsylvania, should appoint. The 
rest, who were Shawnees, and lived farther down the 
stream of the Ohio, were inclined to wait the result 
of the negotiations with the other tribes, but engaged 
to disperse at present, leaving Mr. Forbes to advance 
without opposition, and conducted part to that army 
to communicate that agreeable intelligence. 

After divers adjournments, Mr. Delancey and his 
Assembly met again in November, and he delivered 
a speech, congratulating them on the reduction of 
Louisburgh, the erection of Fort Stanwix, and the 
success atFrontenac. Of the repulse of Ticonderoga 



270 Smith's Continuation of the [Chap. Vf. 

he expressed himself with caution — " Though (says 
he,) our sanguine hopes hav e been disappointed, yet 
the enemy have gained no ground there, and things 
are as they were on Hudson's River at the beginning 
of the campaign." He then reminds them of three 
trips to Albany — recommends these to their conside- 
ration, and leaves them to the common business of 
the year. 

At the instance of Mr. Cruger, the thanks of this 
House were given to Mr. Oliver Delancey, who had 
served with General Abercrombie, as Colonel in 
chief of the New-York forces — " For his great service 
and singular care of the troops under his com- 
mand."* They gave his brother the Lieutenant 
Governor eighteen hundred pounds for a salary, four 
hundred pounds for fuel, candles, and lights, and 
for his three visits to Albany three hundred pounds 
more. 

According to a law, no Assembly could continue 
longer than seven years from the test of the sum- 
mons by which it was first convened ; and the writs 
for the present House issuing in January 1752, this 
was of course the last session, the term expiring in a 
few weeks. 

The party who had so long held the reins, could 
not think of separating without a five-pound act for 
the greater influence of the trading factors in the 
ensuing elections. 

One of the main sticklers in the Council for 
amending the bill, was Mr. Chambers ; the profits of 
whose office, as town-clerk of the capital, would be 
greatly abridged by the commission of all causes 
between forty shillings and five pounds before cogni- 
zance in the Mayor's court, to a single justice of the 
peace. 



* He with Mr. John Cruder and Mr. Beverl}' Robinson were the pny- 
masters and commissaries for laying: out tlie £100.000 devoted for the 
service of this campaiijn. 



1 75 8.] History of j\eiC' York. 27 1 

This was his motive for amending the bill, and he 
was supported by the majority, who thought it 
reasonable to give a compensation to all patent offi- 
ces whose profits were to be lessened by that bill. 
The Assembly had refused the amendments, and the 
Council had given notice that they adhered to them, 
so that the bill had been considered at last, until 
the House, unwilling to be dissolved without it, re- 
sumed the consideration of the amendments on the 
9th December, (for no prorogation had intervened) 
and assenting to them, the Council, (into which Mr. 
Watts and Mr. Watson had been introduced by the 
interest of Sir Charles Hardy,) without any objection 
handed the bill over to the Lieutenant Governor, and 
it passed into a law. 

Before their parting, care was taken to intimidate 
and weaken the influence of Mr. Depeyster the treas- 
urer, and his powerful connexions in the interest of 
his brother-in-law Chambers, by stating an account 
between him and the Colony, according to which 
he appeared to be a debtor to the public in 1757, 
for above thirty thousand pounds ; and to reward Mr. 
Speaker Jones, who had so long served the interest 
of the Lieutenant Governor, and fallen under the 
suspicion of his constituents in Queen's County as a 
friend to the chartered college, he was constituted 
one of the judges of the supreme court, and on 
the face of a new instruction gave him his commis- 
sion, granting the office during good behavior. But 
it must be added, that there was at that time an im- 
portant cause to be tried on a claim to near sixty 
acres of land in the suburbs of the metropolis, held 
by the corporation of Trinity Church, of which Mr. 
Chambers and Mr. Horsmanden were members, and 
therefore exceptionable judges, and when the trial 
came on Mr. Jones sat alone. 

But it was easy to apologise for this appointment, 
especially as the two houses at this time furnished 
him with a very seasonable exhibition of the zeal of 
the Colony in the services of the war, with a view- 
that this representation should be communicated with 



2T3 SmitK's Continuation of the [Chap. VL 

his own additions to the king^s ministers for a share 
of the promised reimbursements, and that delivered, 
Mr. Delancey dissolved the Assembly on the 16th 
of December, " not (as he told them) for any distrust 
of their proceedings ^ on the contrary, I take this 
pubhc occasion of thanking them, and declaring that 
I think they have done a great deal for the service 
oftheir king and country, and that they merit the ap- 
probation and thanks of their constituents. But as 
his Majesty's commands for the operations of the en- 
suing year against the enemy are not come over, 
and probably will not arrive here till near the time 
when this Assembly must expire by the limitation of 
the septennial act ; in which event, if this Assembly 
should not during their continuance go through the 
business then to be recommended to them, the public 
service would bedelayedand perhaps disapproved."* 

The elections demonstrated that all the arts used 
to influence the multitude were insufficient to extin- 
guish the flames of jealousy excited by the partial 
pre-eminence given to one denomination in the mo- 
delling of the college. Fifteen new members were 
introduced, and among them several whose abilities 
increased in the difficulty of managing their humors, 
and who by their opulence were indifferent to the 
smiles or frowns of a party they meant to check and 
subvert. 

Philip Livingston, a popular alderman, came in as 
a member for the metropolis ; William Livingston, 
who had signalized himself in opposing the exclu- 
sive charter, was chosen to represent his brother's 
manor; Robert R. Livingston and Henry Livingston 
were sent by the County of Dutchess ; Mr. Hicks of 
Queen's County had been a partisan of Governor 
Clinton, and with his colleague were preferred to 
Mr. Justice Jones and Cornel. The people of that 
county censuring the former as a tool to the Lieuten- 



* It was kaown that General Amherst was to command the next year- 
JIc seat some of the Louisburgh troops across the country from Bostoo 1? 
Albany, and arrived at New-York on tlic 12th December 17.58. 



175y.J 273 

ant Governor, and the latter as influenced by bis old 
colleague. Messrs. Hasbrouck and Bruyn, Her- 
ring and Wisner, were sent up by Ulster and Orange 
counties, disgusted by the late ruling party. 

But Mr. Delancey was not left without hopes. His 
brother Oliver, and his friends John Cruger, the 
Mayor, and Mr. Lispenard got in for the city, nor 
did his brother and his cousins Verplanck and Rens- 
selaer lose their seats. Besides, he could rely upon 
Mr. Nicoll, his cousin german Mr. Watts, and upon 
Messrs. Winne, Philipse and Thomas, who were his 
companions and members of the late House. 

Add to this, that the Delanceys had gained in the 
Council what they lost in the Assembly. He seem- 
ed to be fixed in the chair, and therefore awed the 
whole board. In proportion to their jealousy of the 
Livingstons, who were considered as the leaders of 
the non-episcopal denominations, they were willing 
to draw with the Delanceys, though the latter were 
not fond of being publicly considered as the head of 
a sect, though powerful in its influence, yet small in 
point of numbers: not to mention that the new mem- 
bers. Watts and Watson, were not only sure votes in 
that board for the party, but a check upon the free- 
dom of their debates. From this time we shall dis- 
tinguish the opposition under the name of the Liv- 
ingston party, though it did not always proceed from 
motives approved of by that family. 

The WTits of summons were returnable on the 26th 
January, 1759, but the inclemency of the season pre- 
venting their convention, Mr. Delancey prorogued 
them by a proclamation under his private seal, to the 
,"3 1st. For this irregularity he had the advice of his 
Council, nor was it excepted to by the Assembly. 
The new plan for the year being not yet come to the 
hands of General Amherst, who had been waiting 
here in daily expectation of it, the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, after Mr. Nicol was chosen Speaker, address- 
ed them with congratulations on General Forbcs's 
success against Fort Du Quesne, recommended a 
more compulsorv law for impressing horses and car- 

35' 



274 [Chap. VI 

riagcs, the prevention ot iVivolous arrests, the pay- 
ment of public debts, and their concerting a plan for 
more populous settlements of the waste lands of the 
crown. These measures were as much for his own 
interest as for that of the public ; the last mentioned 
especially, by which his emoluments in the land- 
office might by new grants be greatly increased. 

They gave him a general answer with warm pro- 
fessions of zeal for the service of the crown and 
their country, and entered into the common routine 
of business, till Mr. Secretary Pitt's despatches arriv- 
ed the latter end of February, requiring an addition 
to the British troops of at least twenty thousand men 
from the Colonies of the east, and of Pennsylvania, 
upon the terms of the last campaign. 

It was immediately resolved to raise two thousand 
six hundred and eighty men, as the proportion of 
this Colony, by giving each individual £15 bounty, 
and twenty shillings more to the recruiting officer; 
and to defray the expense by an emission of £100,000 
in paper, to be sunk in nine years by a tax beginning 
with £12,000 for the present. 

To quicken the levies, the Lieutenant Governor 
urged the House for power to make detachments, 
that every man might be interested in procuring 
volunteers ; and by the 7th of March, the main bill 
for the levies and one for impresses being ready, 
they were passed with two or three others of less 
moment, and the members retired to their counties 
to forward the enlistments, when great umbrage was 
taken by the qnakers, to whose conscientious scru- 
ples the Legislature had shown very little regard. 

But the Assembly were soon reconvened for a 
fresh proof of their zeal. The agents for the motley 
contractors were out of cash, and the end of the 
campaign in danger of being frustrated, unless a loan 
could be made to the crowji of £150,000 currency. 
It was no sooner asked by Mr. Amherst, than a law 
passed (3d July) upon his promise of repayment in 
the course of a year, by bills to be drawn by the 



1759.] 275 

deputy paymaster of the army, and the cash lent 
consisted of bills of credit now issued. 

General Prideaux took the command of the west- 
ern army destined to Niagara. They advanced tlie 
1st of July, 2200 strong, exclusive of several hundred 
Indians led by Sir William Johnson. They landed, 
invested the French fort and opened their trenches. 
The General fell by the unfortunate explosion of a 
cohorn on the 20th. The American Baronet took 
his place, and sent for Mr. Haldimand, who witii 
twelve hundred men had just before repelled sixteen 
hundred of the enemy in the defence of that post, 
with a considerable loss to them and none to us. 
Before Mr. Haldimand arrived, a strong party of 
thirteen hundred came from Venango to the relief 
of the besieged, with five hundred savages. Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Massey advanced with a detachment 
of five hundred men to meet them. Observing that 
our Indians sought an opportunity to speak with 
them, and fearing the eflcct of it, the French set up 
and begun the charge. In less than an hour they 
gave way with the loss of one hundred and fifty 
prisoners, the first and second in command, Morang, 
the Indian leader and seventeen officers, seven of 
whom were captains. Except the Mohawks, all our 
own Indians stood aloof till after the route. This 
victory of 23d July gave us the fort. Through the 
unskilfulness of our engineers, the works were un- 
hurt; and having ammunition for only forty-eight 
hours more. Sir William was on the point of raising 
the siege. The garrison capitulated at the instance 
of the commandants. There were made prisoners 
of war to the number of six hundred and seven : 
their women and children were to be sent to Mon- 
treal. 

General Amherst led the main body. They pass- 
ed Lake George without opposition, and proceeded, 
to the lines so fatal to us the year before. While 
our trenches were opening, the enemy kept in their 
fort, but in the night of the 26th July, blew it up 
and repaired to Crown I^oint. loavins^ twonfv iikmi 



270 L^hap. \ I. 

behind wlio coultl not tind rOuiu la llicir boats. We 
lost Colonel Roger Townsend the night before, by a 
cannon shot in the shoulder wiiile he was imprudently 
gratifying his curiosity at the trenches. 

Five (lays after M. Bourlemaque abandoned Fort 
St. Frederick, and demolished the works on the 
approach of Rogers's rangers, and retiring with all 
the stores to the isle aux Noix. at the north end of 
Lake Champlain, where his whole force collected 
amounted to two thousand men, who were in a starv- 
ing condition. 

Colonel Gage was ordered on the news of the sur- 
render of Niagara, to proceed from Oswego with 
the western forces down the St. Lawrence to La Ga- 
lette, while General Wolf was besieging Quebec, 
that the French force drawn to the two extremes of 
Canada, might favor General Amherst's descent upon 
the centre of the Colony, with an army of twelve 
thousand men through Lake Champlain. 

On the flight from Crown Point, few doubted the 
reduction of Montreal, where they imagined the in- 
habitants shut out from the rest of the world, and so 
harassed as to be unable to collect in their harvest, 
upon the point of perishing by a famine, and by de?- 
paiihready to resign themselves the moment of Gene- 
ral Amherst's landing at St. Johns. They relied on 
the intelligence that the savages in the French alli- 
ance were intimidated, and conceived that the im- 
mense plunder of Niagara would be sufficient to 
draw all our Indians to a firm junction with the troops 
who were to act under Mr. Gage. But of these de- 
signs not one was executed save that trusted to 
General Wolfe, and this not till the 13th September. 
General Amherst who had advanced within thirty 
miles of St. John's, and burnt all the French vessels 
but one, on the news of the Quebec victory returned 
to Crown Point. 

The multitude however were contented with a 
change of fortune so very different from what they 
had hitherto experienced, and contented with their 
successes, a veil was willingly drawn over that inac- 



1759.] 277 

tivity which had disappointed our hopes of the total 
subjugation ofthe power of France on this continent. 

The fort of Niagara though of earth, was respecta- 
ble, and capable of containing two thousand men. 
On the sides it was difficult of access. It had a river 
on the west, the lake on the north, and on the east a- 
morass. The ditch was large, and a great part of it 
wet. The soil near it. like the Seneca country, fertile, 
rich and level. About two thousand Indians visited 
it the ensuing autumn, abject and servile, because 
aware of their dependence on us in future for many 
articles necessary for their subsistence. But not a 
single man of the Mississagas, who inhabited the 
old country of theHurons, on the north bank of Lake 
Erie, came there till the close of the campaign, for 
the French still maintained their post at Toronto, at 
the north-west corner of Lake Ontario, and there- 
fore six hundred men were left the ensuing year as a 
garrison at Niagara. 

At Oswego we built a new pentagon fort, and 
opened a ditch of five and thirty feet. The maga- 
zine was made capable of containing a thousand 
barrels. Casemates and bomb proofs were con- 
structed, and nine companies left there for its de- 
fence, with several small vessels and a brigantine of 
seventy odd feet keel, mounting twenty guns. One 
hundred men more were posted in a small fort at the 
Little Falls of the Onondaga, and as many more at 
the western extremity of the Oneida Lake ; fifteen 
at the eastern end, and four hundred at Fort Stan- 
wix. A road was cut from that fortress eighteen 
miles across the portage to the mouth of the Wood 
Creek, to shorten the passage by that stream, which 
is more than double that distance. It was then as- 
serted that the plain of the waters of the Wood 
Creek and the Mohawk River, at each end of that 
carryiiig-place, differed but two feet, which, if true, 
may one day give a supply of salmon and many other 
kinds of fish to the inhabitants upon the borders 
of the latter of these streams. 



i/B Chap. VI. 

On (he north General Amherst began a fort at 
William Henry, completed another at Ticonderoga, 
formed and began to execute the design of such a 
fortress at Crown Point as would comprehend a cir- 
cuit of nine hundred yards. The winter garrisons of 
these three posts amounted to fifteen hundred men. 

The defeat of the party from Venango facilitated 
the constructions ordered by Mr. Stanwix at Pitts- 
burgh, where he exhausted the summer in Indian 
treaties and promoting our commerce with the abori- 
gines of the south. 

The provisions for the New-York troops extending 
only to the first of November, and General Amherst 
wanting their assistance for securing the ground 
they had gained, and to prevent the French from 
repairing their losses, it was necessary to reconvene 
the Assembly in October, and on account of the 
small-pox, Mr. Delancey ventured to summon them 
again at his own out-house in the surburbs. 

General Amhert's patron was Mr. Pitt ; and the 
Lieutenant Governor, who had hitherto studied to 
conciliate the graces of that general, did not lose 
the opportunity to applaud his campaign. 

After declaring his acquisitions to be important 
and valuable, and approving the wisdom of his mea- 
sures, he adds for justifying them, 

" You must be sensible that the enemy have had 
very small supplies of provisions this year from 
France, and that most of the men in Canada having 
been in arms this summer, their crops must have 
suffered greatly. In this pressing situation it cannot 
be doubted, they will use their utmost efforts to re- 
possess themselves of their strong holds, if it were 
only with a design of getting subsistence from our 
magazines ; but if they know that there are respecta- 
ble forts to oppose tliem, and find that the works are 
completed, they must lay aside all such attempts as 
fruitless and vain." 

The house wanted no incitements to continue their 
aid, and the same day voted the necessary pay antl 
additional clothing; suited to the season, and tlu^ dav 



after (18th October) were adjourned to the 4th 
of December. 

They met then to congratulate each other upon 
the victory at Minden, the defeat of the French 
fleet on the coast of Algarva, the conquest of Gua- 
daloupe, the reduction of Quebec, and the other 
successes of that memorable year, and then proceed- 
ed to the ordinary supplies. Mr. Delancey did not 
omit a requisition for a salary to Mr. Justice Jones ; 
"an officer (says he) whom the course of justice 
obliged me to appoint;" and for obviating objections, 
pointed to funds by an increase of the stamp duties 
and an augmentation of the excise upon strong li- 
quors. 

The session ended in twenty days without a single 
division on any question, though upwards of twenty 
acts were passed, and among them a five-pound act 
so much before contested ; but it was limited to four 
years. 

To the governor they allowed a salary of £1800 
with the £400 perquisite ; gave Mr. Chambers £200 
without any reference to the chief seat as full or 
vacant. Deducted £50 from Mr. Horsmanden's 
late allowance, and gave Mr. Jones £100 a year 
from the date of his commission, the 6th of De- 
cember 1758. Of the five-pound act the committee 
wrote favorably to the agent. The Speaker of the 
present House Hving remote from the capital, declin- 
ed any part of the correspondence, and it was left 
to the members of the metropolis, who expressed 
themselves thus in their letter of the 2fith April. 

" In the last session an act was passed to empower 
mayors, recorders, &:c. to try causes to the value of 
£5 and under, which has been strenuously opposed 
by the gentlemen of the law, both out of doors and in 
the Council, but at last consented to for four years. 
As we are apprehensive that the same opposition will 
travel to the Board of Trade, we desire you will sup- 
port the act, as it has by experience been found very 
beneficial, and i!i a few instances only occasioned any 
discontent ; is greatly satisfactory to all ranks of peo- 



•i»u [Chap. VI. 

pie, except some oi' the law, and prevents number- 
less suits ^d expenses, which in many instances 
amounts in the old practice to more than the sum 
sued for, and therefore this law is esteemed a very 
singular public benefit." 

It was not to be doubted that if the war continued, 
new efforts would be directed for completing the 
reduction of all Canada. Mr. Secretary Pitt's letter 
for that purpose arriving in good season, the House 
was again convoked for our aid on the llth March. 
The Assembly voted the like contribution with that 
of the last year, and there was a new emission of 
sixty thousand pounds to defray it, and an eight years 
tax imposed for sinking the bills. 

The Governor had in his speech incorporated Mr. 
Pitt's letter, commanding him to use his utmost en- 
deavors and inJlueriQe towards raising the men neces- 
sary for the enterprise, which prompted to a motion 
of Mr. R. R. Livingston for an address intimating that 
a great part of the loan to General Amherst was still 
unpaid, and that their exertions were made, luiinfin- 
cnced by any other motives than a sense of their dut}' 
to their king and country. But there was a majority 
for the negative, which is mentioned as a demonstra- 
tion of his ascendency, even in the present Assembly. 
They adjourned the 22d of that month. 

Before they met again in May, he informed them 
that the whole loan was repaid, and at the request 
of Governor Pow^iall implored their charity to the 
people of Boston who had suffered by a conflagra- 
tion which had consumed a great part of that town 
on the 20th March. 

Though the province was then indebted to a long- 
list of creditors for their services and losses in the 
war, and of many of these demands only able to ad- 
vance but a moiety, still they gave out of their 
treasury £2500 to the poor of Boston. 

Mr. Delancey passed ten bills on the 10th of June, 
and then adjourned them. The most remarkable of 
these, was one to regulate the practice of physic 
and surgery; professions taken up by every pretender 



JIbO.j 281 

to the great injury of a credulous people. But 
the remedy was very inadequate to the evil, for the 
law which restrained all unlicensed practices under 
the penalty of five pounds for every offence, was 
limited to the capital, and gave the right of examin- 
ing the candidates to incompetent judges, a coun- 
cillor, a judge of the supreme court, the mayor and 
the attorney-general, assisted by such persons as 
they should think proper to call upon. 

The Lieutenant Governor survived this sessio?i 
only to the 30th July, and died very suddenly. He 
spent the day before on Staten Island, at an interview 
with Mr. Boone and Mr. Barnard ; the latter leaving 
New-Jersey for the government of Boston, and the 
former taking his place and command of New-Jer- 
sey. General James Prevost, Governor Morris, Mr. 
Walton and others, were of the party, and Mr. De- 
lancey, as it was thought, sujffered by the tart raillery 
of the company and a too free use of the cup; for his 
constitution, though not much shattered, began to give 
way to the liberties he hadlongindulged. Crossing the 
water for several miles in the evening air, he landed 
in low spirits, drank some wine and water at Mr. 
Watts's,and rode out to his house about a mile from 
town. He was found in the morning by one of his 
infant children gasping in his chair, and in the ago- 
nies of death ; and before a physician could be called 
to his assistance, the vital spirit was gone. The 
immediate cause was supposed to be a fit of the 
asthma, to which he had been many years so subject, 
as to be unable to take his ordinary repose in bed. 

The conversation of the day beibre certainly put 
the deceased to his utmost exertions ; for he was 
treated with the familiarity of an equal in the pre- 
sence of his inferiors, who had long worshipped 
him as a genius and character of the first magni- 
tude. Mr. Boone, Mr. Morris, and Brigadier Pre- 
vost played off their wit in rallying some of his arts 
for gaining popularity ; and though not a word was 
uttered in a manner interdicted by good breeding, 
vet there was sail under the disguise of politeness 



2'u-2 LCiiap.Vf. 

and respect, which made his defence the more ar- 
/luons, especially as there were three against one. 
with tiio smiles of the rest. His daily coffee-house 
haunts, his controversy with Clinton, his persuad- 
ing Sir Charles Hardy to resign on contract for 
iialf of the salary and emoluments, the subserviency 
of his tools, his double claim to be chancellor and 
chief justice, his exaction of the high tees for land 
grants taken by Clinton, and his receipt of £400 
yearly for the garrison, after the independent compa- 
nies Avere removed, and a tale respecting that money, 
nil touched with delicacy and justified with anxiety, 
without the appearance of contention, formed the 
iopics of a conversation concluded with evening 
merriment on both sides ; but when they parted, Mr. 
Delancey instantly grew serious, and was vexed and 
silent on the whole passage over the Bay. 

The tale alluded to was this : Prevost commanded 
one of the royal American battalions, which had 
wintered here before. The author remarked to him 
in the summer of 1 758, when being ho7's de combat^ 
he spent his time unemployed at a villa near the 
capital, that this annual gift was a party douceur. 
He instantly protested he would exact it for his 
corps, and the next day startled the Lieutenant 
Governor by a demand, which the other endeavored 
to turn off'vvithajest. The General left him to con- 
sider of it, and receiving no satisfactory answer, 
notified him in form, that he should make it the sub- 
ject of a letter to the Secretary of War; and at a 
public dinner told him, that he would certainly make 
that application, because it was the part of a good 
oliicer to insist on the rights of his soldiers, and 
leave it to the Governor to support his own honor in 
the denial if he could. Mr. Delancey was already 
intimidated, and a few days after declaring his con- 
viction of the justice of the claim, paid down a moiety 
of the money, for which the General tookthe merit of 
signing a receipt in full, which the other acknow- 
ledged to be a favorable and indulgent composition. 
General Prevost was so much pleased with his sue- 



1760.] 2B3 

cess, that he could not concealit; valuing his Iriumpa 
over a demagogue who held thousandsiiiav/e, infinite- 
ly beyond the spoils he had acquired. 

Mr. Delancey's genius exceeded his erudition. Ills 
knowledge of the law, history andhusbandry except- 
ed, the rest of his learning consisted only of that small 
share of classical scholarship which he had acquired 
at Cambridge,andby a good memory retained, lie was 
too indolent for profound researches in the law ; but 
what he had read he could produce in an instant, for 
with a tenacious memory he had an uncommon viva- 
city ; his first thought was always the best ; he seem- 
ed to draw no advantages from meditation, and it 
was to this promptness he owed his reputation. He 
delivered his sentiments with brevity, and yet with 
perspicuity. He rarely delivered his opinions in 
writing, because his compositions did not merit even 
his own approbation. It was a labor to him to write, 
and he only supplied the matter of his speeches to 
the Assembly, which others put into form. 

The siege of Quebec by the Canadians, and the 
dread of its returning to its old masters, quickened 
our levies, and when collected, the news of their re- 
tiring from that city in May, stimulated them in their 
progress. General Amherst left Schenectady in 
June to join an army of four thousand regular troops 
and about six thousand provincials, who were to make 
their descent into the heart of the French Colony, 
down the stream of the St. Lawrence, while Gen- 
eral Murray was to come against it with two thou- 
sand regulars from Quebec, and five thousand p o- 
vincials were to penetrate undci Colonel Haviland 
through Lake Champlain. Sir William Johnson 
gave assurances at the same time of the eifectual aid 
of all the warriors of the Six Nations, of which nev- 
ertheless only six or seven hundred accompanied 
the western army from Oswego to La Galette or Os- 
wegatchie, when all except a few individuals thought 
proper to return to their own castles. 

The three divisions advancing and arriving nearly 
at the same time in the neighbourhood of Montreal, 



284 [Chap. VII. 

the whole force ot Canada was driven into the island, 
and Mr. Vaudreuil the French Governor, being sur- 
rounded and unable to make any resistance, surren- 
dered nil Canada on the 8th of September, and 
General Amherst returned to New-York the latter 
end of September, and received the congratulations 
of a people exulting in the accomplishment which 
we were taught by our ancestors to pray for, as an 
event essential to the felicity and safety of all the 
British Colonies in America. 



CHAPTER VII. 



From Lieutewnt Governor Delanceifs deaths to the appoini- 
ment of Lieutenant Governor Colden, during the absence of 
Sir Charles Hardy. 

On Mr. Delancey's death the government devolved 
on Doctor Colden, who immediately came out from 
his rural retreat in Ulster County, and at the age of 
seventy-three took up his residence at the province 
house in the fort, as president of the Council. 

It was the general wish that he would instantly fill 
up the vacant seat of the Chief Justice, the ministry 
having not long before trusted the dispensation of 
justice in other colonies to persons of such character 
as filled the multitude with uneasy apprehensions. 
.Jersey had been mortified by the arrival, first of one 
Ainsley, who was raised to be Cvhief Justice from the 
low station of treasurer to a turnpike in the north of 
England, and when he died, by a successor still more 
contemptible, of the name of Jones, a Newgate soli- 
citor, who left his wife, lady Oliphant, in the arms of 
an adulterer, by whose interest he was promoted and 
sent out of his way.* 



* Ainsley was said to be recommended to the Earl of Halifax by Lord 
Ravensworth, and Jones by Lord Chief Justice V/elles of the Common 
Plsas. 



1760.J 2aj 

Mr. Colden was sounded on the propriety of 
guarding against similar appointments, but delivered 
iiis answer in terms of ambiguity ; and while it was 
unknown that he meant to compliment the Earl of 
Halifax, then first lord of trade, with the nomination, 
and take that opportunity of showing his own zeal 
for the interest of the minister, an attempt was made 
to engage Mr. Morris to change his place in New- 
Jersey for the same station in this Colony. 

It was apprehended that Mr. Colden, who had 
heretofore given so much offence, might, to gain popu- 
larity, be persuaded to join in the recommendation , 
but at the same time it was foreseen that neitherCham- 
bers nor Horsmanden would approve of any other 
person than themselves. 

Mr. Watts suggested to Governor Boone of New- 
Jersey, that his province was happy in Mr. Morris, 
and added a wish that he had the vacant seat in New- 
York. This was privately communicated to Gene- 
ral Prevost, who consulted the author on the subject, 
who spoke to Mr. Morris, and he consenting to the 
trial of our interest, we all met (Mr. Morris and Mr. 
Walton who was his friend) at General Prevost's 
in Flatbush. The author was to engage his father's 
approbation, and Mr. Walton, flattering himself that 
he could procure the junction of Mr. Watts and 
Oliver Delancey, he made the attempt, and pressed 
it with the utmost earnestness, but was unable to 
prevail with either. The only fruit of it was expos- 
ing Watts to the resentment of Mr. Boone, by his 
denial of what the governor had alleged, and to the 
contempt of a few who were informed that he was 
brought to confess that he had forgotten what he said; 
and thus the president, unsolicited upon this delicate 
subject, prosecuted his own design of leaving the 
appointment to the plantation board. 

On the 22d October he made his first speech to 
the Assembly, and to win the Delanceys, who detest- 
ed him, he applauded the superior talents of his 
predecessor, and to recommend himself to General 
Amherst, passed encomiums upon the conquest of 



286 [Chap. Vlf. 

Canada. He then demanded a support, and assured 
them of his concurrence in every measure conducive 
to the prosperity of the Colony, without even taking 
the ordinary condition of its consistency^ with his 
duty to the crown. 

Mr. William Livingston penned the address offer- 
ed in these triumphant moments of joy, and made 
the congratulatory echo louder than the first sound. 
Alluding to the reduction of Canada, the House, to 
pre-engage the retention of it at the peace, speaks 
of that event as replete with innumerable advantages 
to the nation in general, and exults in our deliverance 
" from the devastation of a cruel and barbarous 
enemy : rather bent on the destruction of mankind, 
than waging war either for their own defence, or even 
from motives of ambition or conquest." Again, " no 
consideration (say they) shall induce us to regret 
the blood and treasure expended in facilitating this 
inestimable acquisition, save only (to which we are 
confident the wisdom and honor of the nation will 
ever disdain to submit) the surrender of this most 
important conquest, which, in possession of the crown, 
must prove to Britain the source of immense riches; 
and if retained by so perfidious a people, would expose 
us to the keen revenge of a defeated enemy, who, unre- 
claimed by our example, and by our clemency un- 
softened, would doubtless relapse into their native 
barbarity, and retaliate our levity with more signal 
acts of inhumanity and bloodshed." 

The session was protracted with great concord to 
the 8th of November, when Mr. Colden assented to 
nineteen bills, without the least objection to that for 
an annual support, or the prolongation of the cur- 
rency paper bills; verifying an old remark, that the 
confidants of governors otten advise measures which, 
wheiithjino.'lves arerespo.isible,lhey will not pursue. 

By one of the acts he took a salary of 1 800/. a 
year, with the ancient douceur of 400/. for a garrison, 
consisting only of his own family. 

There was nevertheless some inquietude without 
doors. The merchants were chagrined at the inter- 



1761.] 287 

diction of their commerce with the French and 
Spaniards of Monte Christi : when, by the superior- 
ity of the naval strength of the nation, and the suc- 
cess of our privateers, the enemy were no longer 
able to navigate the West India seas. We drove a 
very lucrative trade with Hispaniola under letters of 
safe conduct, and afterwards without them at the 
post above mentioned. Nearly the whole produce 
of that valuable island came to the British Colonies 
in exchange for provisions and the manufactures of 
the northern country, and passed to Europe in Eng- 
lish bottoms. Both the British and American mer- 
chants had grown opulent by this commerce in spite 
of all the calamities of the war, and the latter felt the 
check now given to their gains by orders issued at 
Mr. Secretary Pitt's instance, excited, as fame report- 
ed, by General Amherst with the utmost impatience. 
Mr. Colden nevertheless enjoyed a perfect calm. 
The enemies he had formerly made were not recov- 
ered from the terror inspired by the death of the 
Lieutenant Governor, and having with their popu- 
larity lost their power, they felt no inclination to re- 
new their hostilities ; nor were they yet without 
hopes from the timidity of his advanced age and the 
address of Mr. Watts, that he would voluntarily con- 
sent to be led. In a word, the weakness of both 
parties left him undisturbed, while the number of the 
candidates for the vacant seat upon the bench pro- 
duced condescensions friendly to his ease, and flat- 
tering to his pride. 

But this appearance of power having nothing to 
support it, lasted but a moment. Mr. Oliver Delan- 
cey having a seat in Council, and the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor's son James aiming at a place in the Assembly, 
and Mr. Jones the former Speaker being restless for 
his old chair, Mr. Colden took fright on the news of 
the death of the king, and unwillingly listened to 
the doctrine that the demise had wrought a dissolu- 
tionofthe Assembly. After some hesitation he issu- 
ed the new writs.returnable on the 3d of March 1761 . 



288 [Chap. VII. 

Though there was a change hut of seven members, 
the return of Messrs. Jones and Cornel for Queen's 
County being set aside, yet from their fortunes, the 
Livingston party novi^ added greatly to their strength. 

The speech (on the 10th, to which they had been 
prorogued by an irregular proclamation) laments the 
death of the king, applauds the virtues of his suc- 
cessor, and leaves it to the House to think of domes- 
tic provisions, till the instructions then expected 
enabled him to state the requisitions for the ensuing 
year. 

The Assembly gave assurances of aid when want- 
ed, concurred in a loyal address to the new king, and 
adjourned to the 24th of that month ; when having 
received Mr. Pitt's letter, the president demanded 
an aid of men equal to two-thirds of our levies on the 
last campaign. They voted seventeen hundred and 
eighty-seven men, and fifty-two thousand pounds to 
defray the expense of the pay and clothing, of which 
the whole, except the sum of seven thousand pounds, 
was money given out of the parliamentary reimburse- 
ments for former exertions. The act for this purpose 
was passed on the 4th of April, and the House were 
dismissed to the 4th of May. Then there was a short 
session for a fortnight,in which Mr. Colden put a ne- 
gative upon two bills, to remove doubts arising re- 
specting the transactions between the death of the 
late king and our notice of it here, and to compel to 
the appointment of the judges for the supreme court 
in future on the tenure of good behavior. The first 
was framed oil the supposition that the laws enacted 
in autumn, by one of which he had his support and 
the proceedings of the supreme court wanted con- 
firmation, and the last was prompted by the general 
wish of the people, that the judges might be render- 
ed independent of the crown, and the vacancy in the 
chief seat be no longer left open to the danger of a 
succession in favor of such mean ministerial hirelings 
as had been sent to New- Jersey. Mr. Colden was 
inflexibly set against both. He had indeed offered 
the chief justice's place to tlie author's father imme- 



1761.] 289 

diately upon the death of Mr. Delancey, upon the 
tenure of the king's bill, informing him at the same 
time as a secret, that he should not make that pro- 
posal to either of the puisne judges; but after Mr. 
Smith refused, he took up the resolution to leave it 
open to the minister of the day, and to hold all the 
rest of the judges on the renewal of their commis- 
sions in a dependence upon the crown. He could 
not have pursued a measure more universally dis- 
gustful, nor have given a better handle to the disap- 
pointed expectants of the vacancy, or the numerous 
friends of the present judges who, with great reason, 
complained of his zeal to enforce an old instruction, 
which Mr. Clinton broke when he appointed Mr. 
Chambers to succeed Mr. Phillipse, and which Mr. 
Delancey had disregarded without censure when he 
constituted Mr. Jones to be the fourth judge on the 
bench.* 

While the bill relating to the judge's commission 
was depending, there was a meeting of both Houses, 
on intimation that he would give his assent, and 
to obviate if possible the objections he had urged in 
justification of the conduct he meant to pursue. 
Some were in favour of increasing- the allowance be- 
yond the present mean stipends of 300/. to the chief 
justice; 200/. to the second judge; 150/ to the third, 
and 100/. to the fourth, and the constituting a perma- 
nent fund for their annual discharge. But others, 
disinclined to the augmentations, predicted that the 
vacancies would in future be filled up by mean and 
ministerial dependants, and the bill by their division 
of sentiment was sent up, subject to the full force of 
Mr. Colden's exception. 

There were others who thought a fine opportunity 
was then lost for gaining an independent unbiassed 
bench, and these contradictions gave rise to mutual 



* I have seen Mr. Clinton's apology to the Duke of Newcastle, and the 
Earl of Holderness's answer, declaring' the king^'s approbation of the com- 
mission to Mr. Chambers on the same tenure with Mr. Dclanccj', and that 
to Mr. Phillipse the oredecessor of Mr. Chambers, 

37 



Ii90 [Chap. VII. 

reproaches, with which Mr. Golden was not a little 
diverted; and a confidant of his said, " Neither party 
had any thing to boast of, because he had predeter- 
mined to object to their augmentations as inadequate 
lo the dignity of the officers, and thus elude their 
importunity, even if both Houses had concurred in 
doubling the salaries. 

The judges at lirst appeared to differ from the 
opinion of the bar as to the effect of the late demise 
of the crown upon their commissions. But their 
fears rising on the approach of the term, they applied 
in form for a renewal of them on the old tenure. 
Their request was instantly refused by Mr. Golden, 
who advised them to sit upon their old commissions, 
and the royal proclamation dated at Saville House. 
Upon mentioning their doubts, whether that procla- 
mation was issued under the great seal, he let out 
his own secret. " Yours (says he) are as good as 
mine, and you'll stand on the same foundation." 
They replied very pertinently, "You may run risks and 
be justified by necessity; you can remove our doubts 
without incurring blame, and it will be expected that 
you do all the good in your power." The judges sat 
to prevent a discontinuance of process, and in hourly 
expectation of being relieved by the arrival of Mr. 
Pratt, a Boston lawyer, who had obtained a manda- 
mus for the seat of Ghief Justice by the interest of 
Mr. Pownall, to whom he had been useful when Gov- 
ernor of the Massachusetts Bay. 

But if he lost favor on one side of the water, he 
increased it by stratagem on the other: the king- 
promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant Governor; 
Under a dread of the clamors of the multitude, he 
wrote to his superiors, declaring his apprehensions 
that he should be compelled to give way to the 
proposition, and thus lay the foundation for a positive 
command against any future compliances. His let- 
ters became the subject of a report from the Board 
of Trade to the king on that question, in which their 
Lordships observe ; 



17i)l.] 291 

That the people of ISew-York could not plead the 
example of the mother country, because, say the}', 
the change which the tenure of the judges' commis- 
sions underwent at the revolution in this kingdom, 
was founded upon the most conclusive and repeated 
proofs of arbitrary and illegal interposition under 
the influence of the crown, upon points of the great- 
est importance to the constitution, and the liberty and 
rights of the subject. It was not however by the 
tenure of their commissions alone that they were 
rendered independent, but such salaries were settled 
on them as not only rendered them less liable to be 
corrupted, but was an encouragement for the ablest 
men in that profession, which qualified them for such 
high trusts. 

" The same circumstance does in no degree exist in 
the American Colonies, whereas, there is no certain 
established allowance that may encourage men of 
learning and ability to undertake such offices ; your 
Majesty's Governors are frequently obliged to ap- 
point such as offer among the inhabitants, however 
unqualified to sustain the character; and though a 
more fit person should afterwards be found, yet if the 
commission was during good behavior, such un- 
qualified person could not be displaced.'''' They add, 

" We are sorry to say that late years have produc- 
ed but too many examples of governors having been 
obliged, for want of such establishment as might 
induce able persons to offer their services, to confer 
the office on those who have accepted it merely with 
a view to make it subservient to their own private 
interests, and who, added to their ignorance of the 
law, have too frequently become the partisans of a 
factious Assembly, upon whom they had been de- 
pendants, for their support, and who have withheld 
or enlarged that support according as the conduct of 
the judges was more or less favorable to their inter- 
ests. It is difficult to conceive a state of govern- 
ment more dangerous to the rights and hberties of 
the subject; but agjrravatod as the evil would be bv 



292 [C;hap. Vlf. 

making the judges' commissions during good be- 
havior, without rendering them at the same time 
independent of the factious will and caprice of an 
Assembly, we cannot but consider the proposition as 
subversive of all true policy, destructive to the in- 
terests of your Majesty's subjects, and tending to 
lessen that just dependence which the colonies ought 
to have upon the mother country." 

Their Lordships take notice of a report of the 
Attorney and Solicitor General on a similar law in 
Jamaica, and of their own board on another passed 
in Pennsylvania, quote Mr. Colden's letters as con- 
sonant with their sentiments, declare, if he has yield- 
ed his consent, he deserves the royal displeasure, and 
advise a general instruction prohibiting in all the 
royal provinces, commissions during good behavior. 
But the Lieutenant Governor's letters were secrets 
when the Assembly met him again on the 2d Sep- 
tember, and gratified his requisition for a continu- 
ance of pay with provisions to one hundred and 
seventy-three men for the defence of Orange and 
Ulster against the incursions of the savages, or he 
would have had more serious proofs of their disgust, 
already excited by the rejection of the late favorite 
bills, which were both immediately renewed, and in 
a few days after sent up to the Council. He had nev- 
ertheless some intimations of their discontent by a 
bill on Mr. Cruger's motion to interdict stage playing, 
by a set of strolling comedians whom he had permit- 
ted to set up a theatre, and by his expression of confi- 
dence in the abilities and patriotism of General 
Monckton, who was then in hourly expectation of the 
arrival of his elevation to the chief command of the 
Colony. 

It has been already observed that Mr. Jones, 
though a judge of the supreme court, had appeared 
as a candidate with Mr. Cornel for a seat in the As- 
sembly. They both lost their aims. The sheriflfs 
first return was set aside for irregularity, and at a new 
election the second was controverted on a scrutiny 



1761.] 293 

which left a majority against Mr. Jones.* The elec- 
tions of Mr. Holland for the county of Richmond, and 
Mr. Schennerhorn for the town of Schenectady, were 
also disputed before the House ; and it may be of 
use to state some of the points resolved by the As- 
sembly in the exercise of their judicial authority, 
respecting the qualification of their own members. 

1. That the names of voting electors not returned 
on the poll lists, shall be received and counted. 

2. That the possession of the remainder, gained 
on the death of a tenant for life but twenty-two days 
before the test of the writ of summons, though the es- 
tate might have been devised thirty years before, 
gives a right to vote. 

3. That the acquisition of a freehold within three 
months before the test, suffices, if it was not fraudu- 
lently obtained. 

4. That an actual possession within three months 
is not necessary ; and, 

5. That a man deaf and dumb from his nativity 
has no vote. 

Shortly before the term of October, and when Mr. 
Pratt was not yet arrived, Mr. Colden, pushed by the 
dread of the discontinuance of all process, and the 
clamors it would naturally excite, resolved to bring 
the judges to the test ; declaring in Council that unless 
they would take new commissions during pleasure, 
he would find others for their places. To the sur- 
prise of the board and of the whole colony, two of 
them consented, but only pro hac vice, to save the 
term in the absence of Mr. Pratt. But Mr. Jones, 
who resided in the country, learning by the way that 
this humility was imputed to meanness, turned back 
and absented himself the whole term, giving out that 
he would not accept a commission upon so base and 
precarious a tenure. No distress could exceed Mr. 
Chambers's the instant he discovered the public dis- 
approbation of his conduct, and that his new commis- 

* But this decision was suspended till the close of the year, when Prir. 
2ebulon Seaman and Mr. Cornel took their seats as the members for 
Queen's County pursuant to the election in Anril preceding-. 



294 [Chap. Vlf- 

sion was thought to leave liim as much embarrassed 
as before ; Mr. Colden's authority to give the last 
under Sir Cliarles Hardy's commission being consid- 
ered as invalid from the end of six months after the 
king's death. Mr. Chief Justice Morris stated this 
exception to him in term time, and it filled him with 
such terror that he implored the Attorney -General to 
bring no criminal cause before them, and to reject 
motions in form for that purpose. The term was no 
sooner ended, than Mr. Pratt arrived. Mr. Chambers 
then offered his first commission to Mr. Monckton, 
who at that time declined any agency in the civil de- 
partment. 

When Mr. Colden and his Assembly parted on the 
11th September, he had no influence upon either of 
the great parties into which the colony was divided. 
The eyes of all men were turned to General Monck- 
ton, for it was not certainly known that he was destin- 
ed to the command of the troops Avhich had been 
several months collected on Staten Island on a secret 
expedition to the West Indies. 

He resided chiefly at that camp, where, agreeably 
to Mr. Secretary Pitt's letter, he performed the cere- 
monies for investing Mr. Amherst with the insignia 
of the Knight of the Bath, until the arrival of his 
commission in the Alcide ship of war on the 19th of 
October. 

Colden soon learnt what Mr. Monckton was at a loss 
to discover, that it was not accompanied as usual 
with a book of instructions, and it had been hinted 
by the Lieutenant Governor to a third person, that 
he thought the want of it an objection to the Gene- 
ral's entering upon the command. Of this, Mr. Monk- 
ton was not apprised till just before the day appoint- 
ed for its publication, and after Mr. Colden's orders 
were out for arraying the militia as usual on such 
occasions, it became him to examine into the weight 
of this exception so unseasonably started, and which 
he apprehended the Lieutenant Governor would use 
every argument to induce the Council to listen to 
and approve- when he offered himself for the oatlis. 



1761.] 295 

The author was consulted the preceding evening 
by Mr. Boone, (who had presided as Governor in 
Jersey, a place which he now left to Josiah Hardy, 
Esq. a brother to Sir Charles, being himself pro- 
moted to South Carolina,) and delivered his opi- 
nion in writing, which was in substance, that the 
commission conveyed the authority and the law 
gave the rule according to which it was to be exer- 
cised ; that the Council, having been appointed by 
the privy signet and sign manual of the late king, 
and continued in office by his present Majesty's 
proclamation, wanted no new appointment to enable 
them to administer the oaths ; and that therefore the 
government under General Monckton could be or- 
ganised without any book of instnirtions. 

When Mr. Monckton had produced his commis- 
sion to the Council on the '16th October, and it was 
read, the I^ieutenant Governor asked for the instruc- 
tions to enable the board to proceed. The other 
replied that he had none, and hoped never to have 
any, that he might be at liberty to copy after the 
example of his royal master. Not a member of the 
board stood by the Lieutenant Governor, and the 
oaths being administered, there was a procession 
and a republication of it as usual at the town hall. 
The militia being drawn up, and an immense multi- 
tude expressing their joy in loud and repeated accla- 
mations. 

Mr. Colden's opinion, which soon took air, had no 
influence on the people. Addresses and congratula- 
tions were presented from all public bodies, without 
naming the Lieutenant Governor. It being then full 
term, he had one from the judges and the bar, and 
another from the grand jury, whicli it seems gave no 
small offence to Mr. Colden, merely fof hinting that 
the public security was enhanced by the high birth 
and opulence of the new governor. 

It would be unfair not to add that the profession of 
the law gave this Governor a public entertainment, 
in return for a very genteel one at his expense to all 
ihe gentlemen of the capital, and still more so to 



'296 [Ohap.VIL 

conceal some private anecdotes. Anecdotes rela- 
tive to Mr. Monckton's request for securing the moie- 
ty of the salary and perquisites of the government 
that might accrue on the expedition to Martinique, 
which he was appointed to command. , 

It was Governor Boone who in his name requested 
the author to frame some instrument for the pur 
pose. He informed him that the general had resolv- 
ed to give his own share to Mr. Golden, but altered 
his mind, after his project for exposing him to the 
scoff of the pubHc, by excepting to the pubHcation 
of his commission. Thai he had already written to 
him, asserting his claim to a moiety, adding, that he 
should not sail before it was secured ; that he had 
received no other than a general promise to comply 
with the king's instructions whenever they arrived. 
That Mr. Monckton was resolved to waste no time 
in a captious correspondence, and had now resolved 
to offer him a draft, and if he refused to execute it 
without reasons, to suspend him without ceremony. 

The author devised a bond for the payment of 
a moiety of the salary, perquisites, and emoluments, 
and to account upon oath if required, and sent the 
instruments with blanks for the surety and penalty. 
Two days after (1 3th November) General Monckton 
desired to know why the oath was proposed ; to 
which it was answered, that himself taking the chan- 
cellor's chair on his return, he would lose the benefit 
of that court to compel a discovery, if that should 
be necessary, and that the bond to account upon oath 
was expedient to prevent his losing the equitable 
relief which every other subject enjoyed by the laws 
of this coufjtry. 

The general showed the author an instrument 
in the hand writing of Mr. Banyer, the deputy se- 
cretary which Mr. Golden had proposed for his secu- 
rity. It was an indenture consisting of covenants, 
reciting that, pursuant to the royal instructions to 
former Governors, a moiety of salary, fees, and per- 
quisites, were payable to the Lieutenant Governor 
in the absence of the Governor in chief, and agree- 



1761.J 



297 



jng that such share should be paid to Mr. Cokleii 
and the other half be received by Mr. Banyer lor tlie 
use of General Moncklon, utiless otherwise applied 
hy his Majesty's instructions, " hereafter to be re- 
ceived." 

I then sent him a tripartate indenture between 
the two Governors and the secretary. It recited that 
by former instructions the Lieutenant Governor was 
to receive a moiety of the salary, perquisites, and 
emoluments, (these being the terms in the 99th arti- 
cle to Sir Charles Hardy) that Mr. Monckton was 
about to leave the province, that he had no instruc- 
tion, but expected one of that import, and that the 
government might fall on Mr. Colden. Then they 
were both made to covenant, that all profits should 
pass into Mr. Banyer's hands, to be equally divided 
if such instruction came, and if not, the whole to Mr. 
Monckton. Covenants followed for Mr. Banyer to 
receive and obtain all these profits, and to render 
accounts upon eath w hen required by either of the 
Governors, and to pay them their respective shares. 
And with this indenture 1 proposed a bond from 
Mr. Banyer and his surety to Mr. Monckton, for the 
performance of the covenants. 

Mr. Monckton embarked on the 15th of Novem- 
ber, but before he took leave expressed himself to 
this effect. "After much shuffling, the matter is set- 
tled. Colden objected to the covenants as putting 
him in the power of his servant, and exposing him to 
the world. I then sent him the bond, requiring his 
execution of it without any further trouble. Banyer 
came from him with an objection to his being made 
liable during my commission and absence. I was 
about to throw all the papers irito the fire, but Watts 
then with me, prevented me. I ordered Banyer to 
bring me an abstract of all the patents for lands and 
commissions for otfices since the death of Delancey. 
He declared he had no doubt Mr. Colden would 
sign, if I would not permit any alteration. Colden's 
reason is, and so he told me, that he hoped to procure 
an instruction for the whole profits in my absen<;;c 



298 [Chap. VH. 

Watts interposing, Banycr took back the bond, ask- 
ing whether, if the Lieutenant Governor executed it, 
he should bring the abstracts. I replied, you will 
obey your orders, and bring back the draft of the bond 
that 1 may compare it with the copy that it may be 
executed." 

On the 14th of November the fleet, consisting of 
one hundred sail, left the Hook for Martinique under 
convoy of the Alcide of sixty-four guns, and the 
Devonshire of seventy-four guns, two of fifty and one 
of forty guns; and thus the government devolved 
again on Mr. Golden, who five days afterwards open- 
ed a new session, with a passion, first raised by the 
two law bills above mentioned, and wound to an 
excess of indiscriminate rage at the whole profession, 
bench and bar. 

The objects to which he pointed were three — The 
elow proceedings of the courts, tippling-houses, and 
the annual support, but upon the first he dwelt most. 

" Gomplaints (says he) of the dilatory proceed- 
ings of tPie courts of law, and of the heavy expense 
in obtaining justice, are so general and frequent, that 
they well deserve your attention. Therefore I re- 
commend to you to inquire into the grounds of these 
complaints, and if found just, to apply a remedy ade- 
quate to so great an evil. Without doubt it is the 
duty and in the power of the legislature to give 
relief in every public grievance. The delay of jus- 
tice is a denial of it for a time, and is often, when 
attended with great expense, of more consequence 
to individuals than the obstinate refusal of it. The 
security of government and the well-being of so- 
ciety, are founded on the equal distribution of jus- 
tice, which cannot prevail in its proper extent, while 
the expense of obtaining it is insupportable to 
many." 

The address demonstrated that the House was 
neither disposed to be very obsequious to his humor, 
nor ignorant of the true motives of the speech. 

They intended to have puzzled him by a call for 
the proofs ; but this he obviated in his answer to the 



1761. J 299 

address of the council, by- quoting the 32nd in- 
struction to Sir Charles Hardy, recommending speed 
in the administration of justice, which being as old 
as the revolution, and known to be common to ail the 
provinces under the immediate government of the 
crown, gave rise to some ridicule. The Assembly 
therefore resolved not to teaze him at the expense of 
their own dignity, and contented themselves with ob- 
serving that they would not permit the colony to 
suffer by Mr. Monckton^s absence, but that its inter- 
ests would be advanced by his concurrence in seve- 
ral bills preparing for the defence and security of 
the liberties and properties of the subject. They 
agree in the expediency of dispensing justice with 
despatch ; but that he might feel the sting of the com- 
mon censure upon the high fees taken for patents, in 
which he was doubly interested as Governor and 
joint surveyor-general with his son, they add* — 

" As the complaints your honor mentions probably 
arise from the want of a legalt establishment of fees, 
we cannot help thinking a general establishment of 
the tees of all the officers of the govermnent will put a 
stop to these, as well as to several other complaints 
of the Hke nature." At the close, they promise " all 
attention to the internal welfare of the colony ; w ith 
conficence that nothing tending to that end can* be 
thought by any who have the honor of serving his 
Majesty, inconsistent with their duty." 

The answer shows a spirit ready for a battle, and 
^vas supposed to have been penned by Mr. Pratt — 

" You may assure yourselves of my concurrence in 
every thing for the benefit of the country, of which 
each of the branches of the legislature have an equal 
right to judge. Methods may be proposed, however, 



'•' The Governor took £\2 10s. for every thousand acres, and the survev- 
or-jeneral five pound more per thousand. 

f All fees had for a long time been regulated by ordinances of tlie Gov- 
ernor and Council, every one of which had expired. Many attempts 
bad been made to establish fees by a law, but lost by the parsimony of the 
Asseiobly. The act in Mr. Van Dam's time was repealed by the kins-. 



^'^^^ [Chap. VII. 

ibr obtaining a real benefit inconsistent with the 
English constitution, or, undor the pretence of a 
benefit, a small dependent State may attempt to set 
bounds to, and restrain the rights and prerogatives of 
the king of Great Britain. In these cases, though 
tho henefit be real, the method proposed for procur- 
ing it, may be inconsistent with the duty of every offi- 
cer who has the honor to serve the crown, especially 
if tile same benefit may be more effectually obtained 
by the methods to which no exceptions lie." 

It was easy to discover that the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor foresaw the renewal of the old bill for confirm- 
ing the acts and judicial proceedings of the last fall, 
and thsit which was still more obnoxious to him re- 
specting the tenure of the judges' commissions. 
While these were on the anvil, he sent a message, 
insisting on an allowance to Mr. Pratt, beyond what 
had been usual ever snice the establishment of the 
salary of a Chief Justice in 1715. The Assembly, 
nevertheless, resolved, "As the salaries usually al- 
lowed for the judges had been, and still appear to 
be sufficient to engage gentlemen of the first figure, 
both as to capacity and fortune in the colony to ac- 
cept of these offices, it would be highly improper to 
augment the salary of the Chief Justice on this oc- 
casion." 

While the bill respecting the tenure of these com- 
missions lay with the Council, the lower house with- 
held that for the support. Both branches had the 
same object in view ; but the upper house were 
apprehensive that if they passed the former, Colden 
would make it a pretext for justifying his appoint- 
ment of Mr. Pratt upon the new tenure, and leave 
the other judges in their present condition. The 
next device therefore was to tack a condition to the 
salaries, as the support bill, rendering them payable 
onli/ on their holding by the safe tenure abov^e men- 
tioned — tlit'Y proceeded upon a presumption that 
he would on tliat account reject the bill, though it 
gave £220) to himself. They were most egregiously 
mistaken : for on waiting only for the receipts of a 



1761.] 301 

joint address to the King on his nuptials, he visited 
the Council, and meanly implored their assent to that 
bill, and to screen them from blame, consented to an 
entry, that they concurred at his instance. The 
Assembly now in their turn became humble suppli- 
cants to the Council, that the other bill might not 
pass that House, lest the Lieutenant Governor 
should gain a complete victory ; and from the com- 
mon antipathy to Mr. Pratt, they obtained this boon, 
and thus all parties were disgusted. The bill to 
settle scruples occasioned by the demise of the 
crown, sunk also, as connected with that respecting 
the commissions, and after this third defeat, they 
were heard of no more. 

At the passing of the acts on the 31st of December, 
the session would have ended, and the partition bill 
would have been lost, if it had not been su[ 
to the Lieutenant Governor the propriety oi some 
apology for not assenting to that necessary h • . It 
was a fortunate thought, for he hastily declared 
that if the House would adjourn for four days, and 
free that bill from some objections, it should have 
his consent. The author's father, who knew its im- 
portance, procured a note of the articles excepted 
to, and endeavored to obviate his objections by such 
alterations, though not injurious to the main scope of 
the bill. These were produced to the Council at a 
meeting on the 3d of January, the day before that to 
which the House was adjourned, and sent to the 
Lieutenant Governor for his perusal. To some he 
yielded, in others they made concessions to please 
him. 

Both Houses came together when the altercations 
with the Governor were carried on for four days, 
and with reluctance at last he consented to a new 
engrossment, and having passed the act, he pro- 
rogued the Assembly. 

The projector of that part of this law respecting 
the partition of lands, being called to watch the 
Lieutenant Governor's various exceptions to it, was 
a witness to the singular irregularities above related. 



• J02 [Chap. VII. 

though no notice is taken of them in the journals of 
the House, for, according to their form, there should 
have been a prorogation, and a new bill with three 
readings in each House. 

If the Lieutenant Governor had been gratified, 
there would have been no balloting for the lots 
till all objections to the proceedings had been heard 
and determined by the supreme court, nor any out 
lines run to ascertain the tract without the surveyor- 
general's approbation. The Council and Assembly 
would agree to neither of these alterations. The 
' first exposed to tedious delay and enormous expense, 
and the last subjected the proprietors of undivided 
lands to the arbitrary caprice of an officer, and open- 
ed a door to corruption. The contrariety of senti- 
ments upon this point gave rise to the double lines 
for the contents of the tract, and the distinction 
between the parts disputed and indisputed, more 
particularly mentioned in that useful act, which has 
greatly contributed to the cultivation and settlement 
of the colony, and enhances thp estates of thousands 
who before estimated them as of little or no value. 

It has been already observed, that the Jiieutenant 
Governor assented to it unwillingly. It is upon the 
information of a member who having, after much 
conversation on that subject with but little hope of 
success, dropped these words at parting: "And is 
there then nothing, Sir, which you are willing to do 
for the country ?" Struck with this spirited reproof, 
he replied, "'• Well, copy your bill as it is altered, and 
I'll come up and pass it."* 

The judges being all unprovided for, Mr. Pratt, 
whose narrow circumstances made immediate sup- 
plies necessary, despaired of all relief, unless his 
patron could procure it by dint of interest at home 
out of the quit-rent fund, and waited only the mend- 
ins: of the roads to return to his native country. 



* Robert U. Livingston was the chief manager in tlie irregular messa- 
ges relating to these amendment". 



1762.] 303 

He suflTered from Mr. Colden's patronage, and nc- 
Ihing so much contributed to the general odium 
against the Chief Justice and his patron, as Mr. Har- 
dy's adventurous generosity in Jersey, who by his 
renewing the judge's commissions during good be- 
liavior, taught this colony to believe that it was 
chofce and some sinister motive, and not a dread of 
administration that prompted Mr. Golden to stickle 
for a dispensation of justice under the control of the 
crown. 

It was therefore with a malignant pleasure that the 
public soon after the session discovered Mr. Colden's 
late promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Governor 
was not the reward of merit, but the effort of low 
craft and condescension. 

To gain an interest with Mr. John Pownall, a clerk 
to the Board of Trade, who had the ear of the Earl 
of Halifax, and to raise the ideaof his being able 
to influence the Assembly, he offered him the agency 
of the colony; a bait to which the minister could 
not be indifferent. 

Pownall's good sense and experience taught him 
to believe that a donation so imprudently liberal 
would soon be recalled, and sagaciously declining it, 
proposed that the representation of the Assembly 
should rather be trusted to his friend Mr. Burke. 
He requested this of Mr. Golden, who soon after 
received the reward of his art in the commission to 
be Lieutenant Governor. It now required some ad- 
dress to conceal from Pownall that want of influence, 
without which his friend could not succeed. 

Having attained his own end, he intimated that 
there would be difliculties to bring in a person so 
little known to the prejudice of Mr. Gharles, on 
whose account some were moved with compassion. 

Pownall saw himself entrapped, and that he had 
not only missed his aim, but was exposed to the 
resentment of the old agent. 

With professions that he meant not to interfere to 
his prejudice, he revealed to Mr. Gharles all that 
liad passed, and gave him copies of the letters which 



J04 [Chap. VII. 

were now transmitted to the committee of Assembly, 
who had lor some time managed the correspondence 
with the agent on so serious a subject. The reader 
ought to see the proofs, which i insert with the an- 
swer from the committee.* 



* CHARLES TO THE COMMITTEE. 

Crotden Square., London^ \Mh JSTovember, 1761. 

It may not be improper in me to acquaint the General Assembly that Mr. 
Pownvill having desired an interview with me to communicate some letters 
that had passed between him and Mr. Colden, did inform me on the 12th 
inst. that the Lieutenant Governor had some time before signified to him, 
that the agency of the colony would become vacant, and had made an offer 
of it to him, which he said he had refused as incompatible with his pre- 
sent station, but that he had thereupon recommended a Mr. Burke for the 
employment. He tlien went on to tell me how much he was surprised to 
find by a late letter from Mr. Colden, that this was to be effected to my 
prejudice, which he said he never meant, and was far from wishing; for 
that he had no otherwise recommended Mr. Burke than upon the sugges- 
tions of Mr. Colden, that there would be a vacancy, and then read to me 
the Lieutenant Governor's letter of the 12th of August, and afterwards 
sent me copies from which the enclosed ones are faithfully transcribed. I 
suppress my own reflections on this matter, and will only take leave to 
assure the House, &c. 



COLDEN TO POWNALL. 

Mw- York, August I2th, 1766. 
Sir, 

When I wrote to you on the 16th May, I had not so far recovered from 
a dangerous illness that seized me in April, as to be able to converse freely 
with the members of Assembly in their last session, as I proposed to have 
done in relation to the agency for Mr. Burke. Since that time the Speak- 
er and principal members have been in the country. I have called the 
Assembly to meet the first of next month. At that time 1 shall use my 
utmost endeavor to serve Mr. Burke, for I have it sincerely at heart, 
whether I continue in the administration or not. The principal objection 
is that he is not known to any person in this place, which I can no other- 
wise remove than by your recommendation of him, vrhich I hope will 
have great weight. Some likewise are moved with compassion for Mr. 
Charles who they imagine will be under difficulties if the agency be taken 
from him. 

On the 17th July I received the honor of his Majesty's commission, 
appointing me Lieutenant Governor. I think myself extremely obliged 
to your brother and to you on this occasion, as I make no doubt but his 
and your ^ood offices wilh my Lord Halifax have contributed much to it. 

General Monckton's commission to be Governor in chief of this pro- 
vince is expected with Governor Hardy, who I am told was to set out in 
Oie beginning of July last. It is probable, therefore, that the duration oi 



1762.] 



305 



The royal requisitions for the operations in the 
West Indies brought Mr. Golden and his Assembly 



together again in March. 



my administration will be very short. This, however, does not lessen the 
obligation I am under to my friends. My appointment does me great 
honor as a mark at least of his Majesty's approbation, and of my Lord 
Halifax's favor. In whatever situation I may be, it will give me the highest 
pleasure to serve you in any shape, and 1 beg of you to lay your commands 
upon me, which I shall esteem as aa honor to your most obedient servant, 

CADWALLADER COLDEN. 



POWNALL TO COLDEN. 

London, February 9tk, 1761. 
Sir, 

When 1 took the liberty to request your interest in favor of Mr. Burke 
to be agent for New- York, I asked it only in case of a vacancy, which you 
in your letter to me supposed would happen ; but it was very far from my 
intention to request any favor for him to the prejudice of Mr. Charles the 
present agent, whom I really believe to be much better qualified to serve 
the province in that character than any other man, and therefore for his 
sake as well as for the public, I shall be extremely sorry if any misappre- 
hension of mj request to you should be of disservice to him. 

I am, Sir, &c. 

JOHN POWNALL. 



THE COMMITTEE TO CHARLES— Extract. 

Mr. Colden has never recommended to the House or to any of its mem- 
bers that we know of, either Mr. Pownall or Mr. Burke. He has indeed 
proposed to a few members the appointment of another agent, and desired 
that the House would join him in appointing a new one. This when men- 
tioned, was laughed at, and treated with the contempt it merited. The 
General Assembly will not suffer any Governor to nominate or recommend 
an agent for them, and it was great presumption in Mr. Colden to mention 
any thing on that head. We are very certain that Mr. Colden, when he 
ofTereft the agency to Mr. Pownall, must have. known that it was not in 
his power to get any person appointed by his influence or recommendation. 
The motives that moved him therefore to make that offer, could only be 
to get Mr. Pownall's interest with Lord Halifax to procure a Lieutenant 
Governor's commission. This is evident from his letter of the 12th of 
August, of which you sent us a copy. It thereby appears that he had re- 
ceived the commission, and that he was contriving excuses immediately 
to get quit of his promise. Mr. Colden has probably taken great merit 
to himself with his Majesty's ministers in regard to the forwardness and 
zeal shown by the General Assembly for his Majesty's service in raising 
forces, &c. If he has, it is unjust ; for we can with truth affirm, that it 
was not on account of any interest or influence he had with the Assembly, 
or the people of this colony, that they have come into the measures pro- 
irosed by his Majesty's ministers, but their zeal for the public service only. 

39 



306 [Chap. VII. 

Though the aid demanded was nearly equal to 
their contributions before the conquest of Canada, 
their contempt of the Lieutenant Governor extreme, 
and thoui^h the pubhc debt exceeded £300,000, and 
we were annually assessed a £40,000 tax to discharge 
it, yet the Assembly did not hesitate in promising to 
go beyond what might justly be expected, rather 
than suffer the least shadow of an imputation to be 
laid on their zeal for the king's service. 

It was however a question of great moment wheth- 
er they ought to set the precedent of levying 479 
men as required, to complete the king's regidar re- 
giments; and to prevent it, they gave their aid in 
the form of a loan, '•^ to be repaid when his Majesty 
in parliament shall think proper." After a few days 
the aid for this purpose and another to levy, pay and 
clothe 1787 men on the continent, with a tew others 
of smaller moment were passed, and the House was 
adjourned to the 13th of April. 

But for Mr. Robert R. Livingston, who devised this 
expedient of a loan, the credit of that contribution 
would have been lost, for the House were extremely 
jealous of raising money to recruit soldiers for the 
standing army of the nation, especially as forts re- 
quiring large garrisons were constructing in the inte- 
rior country, and apprehended to be now unnecessa- 
ry, unless the minister's design was to curb the 
colonies, and artfully to bring tis to bear a part of the 
expense. They yielded with reluctance out of re- 
gard to the exigency of the day, the mother country 
being drained for the German supplies, and because 
they were not only desirous to give success to a con- 
quest of Louisiana and the Mississippi settlements, 
but to prevent suspicions inauspicious to their wish 
that Canada at the end of the war might be retained 
by Great Britain. These considerations led thorn to 
an entry of their vote as unanimously carried, though 
many were at heart opposed to it. Mr. Livingston 
observed to them, that if the money was unpaid, no 
more could be asked, and if returned, it would be 
confessed to be a loan ; and in aid of his design, it 



1762.] 307 

was suggested at a meeting of the Speaker and seve- 
ral other members, that it would be proper to recite 
in the preamble of the bill, their views of the neces- 
•sity of this unusual contribution for our own immedi- 
ate safety. 

The administration of public justice now called 
loudly for more than ordinary attention. Mr. Cham- 
bers had made a solemn resignation of his place in 
November, and just before January term, Mr. Hors- 
manden had sent his commission enclosed in a letter, 
which (as Mr. Golden was in distress by the last ill- 
ness of his lady) he authorized Mr. Banyer to deliver 
when most consistent with decorum. Mr. Jones had 
never yet taken up the commission issued pro hac 
vice, and left for him on the court table. Mr. Pratt 
was therefore alone in January term, and receiving 
nothing, declared his intention to leave the province 
for Boston. 

With an apprehension of a total discontinuance 
of all process in the term of April, Golden on the 
24th of March, demanded a categorical answer from 
Horsmanden in full council, to the question, whether 
he would serve or not. He replied, his commission 
Avas already resigned, and that he would never sit 
under it.* The Governor asked, whether he would 
accept a new one during pleasure ; adding, that if he 
refused, the public distress should be represented to 
the king's ministers. The other desired time to con- 
sider, and two hours after consented to take the place 
of second justice, with a declaration that no services 
were to be expected from him on the annual river 
circuit. A letter was the same day sent to Jones for 
his final resolution, and he too submitted to resign the 
credit he had acquired by the contempt he had put 
upon the pro hac vice commission as before related, and 
again when being impatient of a total degradation 
on the decision of the Assembly,! giving the seat he 



* December 9tl) 1761. 

f Mr. Banyer ofFered the letter enclosing it, but the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor without breaking- the seals ordered it to be returned. He boasted 
of it as an act of generosity, considering tlie provocations Mr. Horsman- 
den had given him during the party feuds in Mr. Clinton's administration. 



sua [Chap. VII. 

expected to Mr. Seamaci; he had resolved to have 
gone to the heiich under his first commission from 
the late king and the Saville House Proclamation, 
till he was told after coming to town, that the last 
commission had revoked the first, and that he must 
act under that or not at all. Mr. Jones's answer was 
required, but he withheld it till two days after Mr. 
Horsmanden had bound himself to serve. 

The war against Spain was proclaimed here on 
the 3d of April. The council met at the fort, and 
the militia were arrayed. The proclamation was 
read by Mr. Bariyer at the door, and followed by 
three cheers. The grenadiers, led by Lord Stirling, 
then advanced to the town-hall. The constables 
followed after them ; the under sherifTs, high sher- 
iff, and town clerk, the common council, aldermen, 
recorder and mayor, then the council, the Lieutenant 
Governor, and last of all, the gentlemen of the town. 
When the proclamation had been again read at the 
hall, they returned to the fort, and after sometime the 
company retired. 

It should not be omitted that a short convention 
of the Assembly took place in May, and that they 
passed a bill which originated in the Lower House, 
and sent it up to the Council on the .Oth — was passed 
by the Governor the next day : and that another bill, 
which the council received on the 20th, had the 
Governor's assent on the 22d ; the former being an 
act for raising money by a lottery to build a new 
jail in the metropolis, and the other to punish tres- 
passes injurious to the light-house of Sandy Hook, 
which to the shame of the colony was now first 
erected. 

Mr. Colden's second administration was then draw- 
ing to a close; for General Monckton, having succeed- 
ed in the conquest of Martinique, returned to his gov- 
ernment on the 12th day of June, and began with a 
splendor and magnificence equal to his birth, and 
expected from that liberality and generosity for which 
he has ever been so highly distinguished. 

FINIS. 



